Hank III | Music | Dallas | Dallas Observer | The Leading Independent News Source in Dallas, Texas
Navigation

Hank III

It's not easy being Hank Williams. Number one suffered a pained back and an ambitious hellcat of a wife in Miz Audrey, among other travails, before shuffling off this mortal coil. Two took a header off a mountain onto his face after years of being dressed up and paraded across...
Share this:
It's not easy being Hank Williams. Number one suffered a pained back and an ambitious hellcat of a wife in Miz Audrey, among other travails, before shuffling off this mortal coil. Two took a header off a mountain onto his face after years of being dressed up and paraded across the boards as the reincarnation of his dad by the aforementioned Miz Audrey. He also has a son who's none too fond of him in Hank III, who seems to all but celebrate being a vessel for all the family sins, struggles and traditions that come with being Hank Williams.

A punk rocker prior to being slapped with a child-support suit that prompted him to go country (sorta) and cash in (sorta) on being his granddaddy's namesake and near-spittin' image, Hank III visits Big D this time out fronting Assjack. It's pretty much the same players as the Damn Band, his adrenal C&W backing group. But the name shift signals that this tour is more Jason & The Scorchers or Sex Pistols than Wayne Hancock (whom Hank III admires near as much as his granddad) with his wild-hair Southern style fashioned into a proverbial Mohawk cut.

In typical Hank III fashion, he's touring in support of an album his label (Curb Records) refuses to release, This Ain't Country. Where Hank I moaned the blues over his life and Hank Jr. partied to stanch the pain, Hank III--like the genuine rebel he is--approaches it all like a battle royal. It makes for a truly dynamic concert experience. And for all the eerie echoes of his namesake he carries and near-WWF freak show his appearances can be, the young'un truly has the Williams genes as a singer, writer and living embodiment of an icon. Let's just hope he can get out of this world alive.

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Dallas Observer has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.