In an era of plastic, manufactured music, it is always refreshing when someone goes against the grain and does what they want to do. Hank Williams III is the best example of this in music today. For over twelve years now Shelton Hank Williams III has been fighting the music industry to be his own man. Cast by certain people in the shadow of his legendary grandfather, Williams has fought long and hard to create his own sound and style, and to preserve the true outlaw spirit of real country music. His ever-evolving three hour live shows pay respects to both his country roots, and the punk and metal influences that he has held true to since his teens.
Much like his grandfather and his father before Him, Hank III is his own man. He doesn't care what expectations people have in him, and he will do it the way that he does it so long as he is alive.
Hank III's last release, Straight to Hell, was considered a milestone as it was his first have a parental advisory control sticker on it. Williams says with pride. "I was born and raised in the Bible belt; they take everything a little bit too serious." Straight to Hell broke all the rules of country music while somehow managing to honor its traditions at the same time. This two-CD celebration of drinking too much, staying up too late and getting into all kinds of nefarious mischief brought a yee-haw from those intrepid souls who have followed the exploits of this third-generation hell-raiser. The surprise is that Williams concocted his two-CD opus on a Korg D-1600 digital recorder — a $400 piece of hardware that liberated the artist from temporal and budget constraints.
The saga continues on October 21, when Curb will release William's long awaited fourth studio project, Damn Right Rebel Proud: a collection of thirteen original cuts penned by Williams -- guaranteed to please diehards and new recruits alike. To Williams, every record is a learning process, and Damn Right Rebel Proud is no exception. No other record comin' out of Nashville sounds like this."
But, like any true artist, Hank III does not stop to reflect on his current success, "I'm already working on the next one."
