2008 Hank III

It's not a new idea for the son of a country-music legend to follow in his father's footsteps. Hank Williams, Jr. developed a tremendous following because of (or in spite of) his father's status, and more recently, Bobby Bare, Jr. took on a version of the country-rock music his father, Bobby Bare, cranked out a couple of decades ago. But now we have a unique phenomenon, a third generation of oncoming legendary music in the person of Hank Williams III.

Nashville-born in 1972 and blessed (or cursed) with a scary vocal resemblance to Hank Williams, Sr., Hank III at first did his best to distance himself from the family musical tradition. He spent the first half of the 1990s in the Southern punk scene as a drummer. A feature of this time in his life was an indulgence in debauchery that continued the family tradition of getting wilder with each passing generation. 1996 brought about a lifestyle change for Hank III, one that allowed him to escape the fate of his grandfather.

Hank III's next step was to get himself signed to a major label, Curb Records, and give himself over to the country music that runs in his family's blood. The first album concocted by Curb was Three Hanks: Men with Broken Hearts, which involved mixing in the voices of Hank, Sr. and Hank, Jr. with Hank III's. The result annoyed Hank III enough that he started trying to get out of his contract with Curb.

Hank III had to walk the line between ignoring his roots (he looks and sounds so much like Hank, Sr. that the roots cannot be ignored) and selling out to the carbon-copy image he could have taken on. If it were about the money, being a Hank Williams clone would have worked, but Hank III was really after artistic recognition. The tickets were selling themselves because of his artistic integrity.

Hank III's compromise was to form two separate bands. His Damn Band worked behind his country persona, where he could be the grandson of Hank, Sr. Alternatively, AssJack allowed him to explore his punk leanings. Amid this dichotomy, Curb chose the way his recordings would go: his 1999 album, Risin' Outlaw, showed the honky-tonk tendencies of Hank III's grandfather. Despite the positive reviews for the album and the way his tour tickets flew out of the box office, Hank III grumbled about the end product and worked even harder to get away from Curb.

His 2002 album, Lovesick, Broke & Driftin', was just as big a success with his fans, in part because it maintained a steady faithfulness to his grandfather's musical stylings while showing a hint of his father's rocking style. Unlike the 1999 album, this one consisted of songs Hank III wrote himself, another step into the path of his grandfather.

Since then, Hank III and his fans have enjoyed an amazing relationship, with Hank III playing to wildly enthusiastic (and just plain wild) crowds. Apart from his typical shows, Hank III has appeared at the Grand Old Opry, where he reminded more than a few ticket-holders of his legacy. If you have tickets to see him, you can be sure you will see a first-class performer, whether you see his country side or his punk side.