For fans of public radio, go over to NPR and listen to a solid review of Hank 3's lastest batch of albums. They are on point and shed more light on the variety of sounds between the four albums released. We have always dug his sound due to his refusal to be pigeon holed just to play one type of music. Whether it be the hellbilly punk infused metal that was brought out through Assjack, the Discharge worshipping sounds of Superjoint Ritual or his real country tunes in which he wails like his grandfather Hank Williams. Hank 3 continues to live through music on his own terms.
Hank Williams III, also known as Hank 3, is the son of Hank Williams Jr., as well as the grandson of Hank Williams,
considered to be one of the greatest country music performers of all
time. Hank 3 got his start in music playing punk and metal, then went on
to form bands with members of Pantera and The Jesus Lizard. Hank 3 made
country albums, too, but had little use for mainstream Nashville's
restrictive culture.
He's always cast off the
expectations connected with his iconic bloodline, challenging the music
industry, the press and even his fans. In concert, Williams will often
go from a set of straight-up country to "hell-billy" to punk rock and
metal, with only the most broad-minded audience members sticking it out
for the whole show. And he's just released three albums — spread out
over four CDs — on which he pushes boundaries farther than he ever has
before.
"Trooper's Holler," from Ghost to a Ghost, is a perfect example of Williams' originality, as his dog Trooper's vocals are featured here. Ghost to a Ghost is, for the most part, unambiguously country, with some requisite dirty words and a small shot of klezmer. The second CD, Gutter Town, plays more like the soundtrack to a horror film: a demented Cajun campfire on the outskirts of a creepy, deserted village.
Hank 3 has used ambient sounds and bleeps and blips on recordings in the past. But it's the third CD, Cattle Callin',
on which he truly innovates. In his never-ending, genre-bending quest,
Williams creates what he calls "cattle-core," setting the rapid-fire
calls of cattle auctioneers to super-speed-metal double kick drum,
guitar shreddery and diabolical vocal squall.
As if that isn't enough, there's a fourth disc, titled Hank 3's Attention Deficit Domination.
This is Williams' foray into doom rock. It's a bottom-heavy slow dirge
that shows off what got Williams into music in the first place: his
considerable bass and drum playing.
With his
instrumental skill, his vocal ability and his pedigree, Hank 3 could
have easily coasted into a mainstream country-music career, but no.
Legend has it that Minnie Pearl, who was close to the Williams family,
told Hank 3, "Lord, honey, you're a ghost," because he so closely
resembles his grandfather. But as much as country music runs through
Hank 3's veins, so does rebellion. Remember that his grandpa was thrown
out of the Grand Ole Opry. Most of the music on Williams' four CDs bears
little resemblance to Hank Sr., but his reckless spirit is in there.
