Did You Know...

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.