| Hank Williams III | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth Name | Shelton Hank Williams |
| Alias | Hank Williams III, Hank3, III, Skelton, The Unholy Three |
| Born | December 12, 1972, Nashville, Tennessee |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Genres | Country, Outlaw Country, Punk Rock, Psychobilly, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Grindcore |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Drums, Banjo |
| Years active | Late 1980s - 2014 |
| Labels | Hank3, Curb, Megaforce, Housecore |
Shelton Hank Williams (born December 12, 1972), known as Hank Williams III, is an American musician, singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, known for his fusion of traditional and honky-tonk country music with rockabilly and punk rock. He was also the drummer of hardcore punk band Arson Anthem, and bassist of Phil Anselmo's band Superjoint Ritual along with helming various side bands such as the heavy metal band Assjack and the punk rock band 3. He has released eleven studio albums, including five for Curb Records.
Williams' live performances were also notable for being lengthy and in multiple "sections", often with the acoustic country set followed by the electric country set. In the 2000s Assjack would serve as the final act for the heavier audience. In 2013 and 2014 this would shift into a new setup spanning four hours. Along with the country sets there would be the "3" set (A punk rock set), the "Attention Deficit Domination" set (A doom metal/grunge set with covers of bands the likes of Sleep, Earthride and Alice in Chains.) and the "3 Bar Cattle Ranch" set (A grindcore set complimented by samples of cattle auctioneers).
Williams is the grandson of Hank Williams and the son of Hank Williams Jr. He is also the nephew of Jett Williams, the half-brother of Holly Williams, and the father of Coleman Williams.
History[]
Early Career[]
Williams spent much of his early career playing drums in punk rock bands during the late 1980s and early-to-mid-1990s. During this time frame, Williams was informed that he had fathered a son, Coleman Finchum, who was five years old by that time; a family court judge ordered Williams to find more stable employment so that Finchum could receive child support. It's been confirmed that Williams' first solo efforts helped to fund those child support payments.[1]
Solo Career[]
Capitalizing on his family name and resemblance to his grandfather, he signed a contract with Nashville music industry giant Curb Records. Three Hanks: Men with Broken Hearts was issued shortly thereafter, which spliced together recordings to make it seem that three generations of Williams men were singing alongside one another. In the late 1980s, upon first meeting Hank Williams III, Minnie Pearl, a friend of the late Hank Williams Sr., reportedly said "Lord, honey, you're a ghost", as she was astonished by his striking resemblance to his grandfather.[2] ank Jr. and Hank III, due to the success of the Three Hanks album, would receive a Vocal Duo of the Year nomination by the Academy of Country Music in 1997.[3]
Williams' debut studio album Risin' Outlaw saw release on 7 September 1999, by Curb Records. The album was produced by Chuck Howard and Bob Campbell-Smith and notably featured Dale Crover of The Melvins on drums. Despite positive reception and respectable sales, Williams has stated that he despises this album in particular and considers his next album Lovesick, Broke and Driftin' as his real debut. In an interview Williams gave with Country Standard Time, he said, "I'm not happy with it. I hate it; can't even listen to but maybe two songs on it. I said (to the label) that every damn interview that I do I ain't gonna talk good about it. Curb thinks this album is so different and so alternative. It's a headache."[4]
Lovesick, Broke & Driftin saw release on 29 January 2002. Featuring notable guests such as Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Randy Kohrs and Chris Carmichael, Lovesick... peaked at #156 on the Billboard 200. In 2003, Williams recorded This Ain't Country for Curb, who chose not to release it. On 17 May 2011, Curb released the album under the title Hillbilly Joker, without the consent or input from Williams after his contract with the label had been terminated. Hank 3 would go on somewhat of a hiatus in the early 2000s.[5]
In 2006, after resolving a contractual dispute with Curb Records, Williams released Straight to Hell on Curb's rock imprint, Bruc. Battles with Walmart delayed the appearance of this album, which was released on February 28, 2006, as a two-disc set in two formats: a censored version (for Wal-Mart), and an uncensored version that was the first major-label country album ever to bear a parental advisory warning. Straight to Hell was also the first release through Curb's Bruc Records imprint. However, the uncensored version was released through Bruc, and the clean version was released through Curb. One of the songs, "Pills I Took", was written by a little-known Wisconsin group called Those Poor Bastards, who originally released the song on their 2004 CD Country Bullshit.[6] Joe Buck (aka Joe Buck Yourself) would be among the performers on the album.
Damn Right, Rebel Proud would follow on 21 October 2008 and prove to be Williams' best-selling album to date, peaking at #2 on Billboards Top Country Albums and #18 on the Billboard 200.[7] Rebel Within would follow on 25 May 2010 and would be the final authorized Hank III album on Curb, peaking at #20 on the Billboard 200.
Between 2012 and 2017, Curb would release a series of unauthorized compilations of Williams' music. In 2012, Curb released a Williams album titled Long Gone Daddy, marking the second album the company has released under his name since his departure. In 2014, Curb Records released a new album under Hank Williams III's name titled Ramblin' Man. The album contains previously unreleased material that Williams recorded while on their label. The following year, Curb released another Williams album of previously unreleased songs titled Take As Needed for Pain. The album is mostly a rock album but the single released was a country song titled "Ruby Get Back to the Hills". In 2017, Curb released a Greatest Hits album featuring select tracks from Williams' first four albums, mostly from Straight to Hell. Speaking in regards to Hillbilly Joker, Williams advised his fans "Don’t buy it, but get it some other way and burn the hell out of it and give it to everyone."
On 23 June 2011 Hank3 would announce he had formed his own label imprint called Hank3 records and announced that four albums would be released on 6 September 2011.[8][9] These albums would be the double-album Ghost to a Ghost/Gutter Town (a 2-disc country record with some ambient and folk influences), 3 Bar Ranch Cattle Callin (a metal record in the newly anointed cattle core genre and sampled various cattle auctioneers) and Attention Deficit Domination (a doom-rock record), were released under his label Hank3 Records through Megaforce Records. Notably, Ghost to a Ghost/Gutter Town featured guest appearances by Tom Waits, Les Claypool (Primus), Alan King (Hellstomper), Ray Lawrence Jr., Troy Medlin (Sourvein), Dave Sherman (Earthride) and Williams' dog, Trooper.
Williams would release two more albums on 1 October 2013: Brothers of The 4x4 which was a country double-album and A Fiendish Threat, a punk rock album under the name 3 calling back to his earliest recording years.[10] Hank would tour heavily in 2013 with his sets expanding to three to four hours. He would tour in the Summer and Fall of 2014, which would ultimately prove to be his final tours to date.[11][12] His last live performance to date would be at the Ogden Theatre in Denver, Colorado.
Since the Fall of 2014, Hank Williams III has largely been on hiatus. Notably, he would relocate out of East Nashville and in a 2016 interview noted that his beloved hunting dog Trooper had died.[13][14]
In 2018, Williams was featured on DevilDriver's cover of his song "Country Heroes", which appears on their album Outlaws 'til the End: Vol. 1. In 2021, he released a cover of the David Allan Coe song "You Never Even Called Me By My Name" on his YouTube channel, in line with the songs 50th anniversary.[15] Though still on hiatus from touring and releasing albums, Williams has released several unreleased recordings on YouTube.
Williams' son Coleman Williams, performing under the alias IV, has been active as a touring musician since 2021.[16]
Superjoint Ritual[]
Williams would join Superjoint Ritual on bass in 2002, performing on their second record A Lethal Dose of American Hatred and appearing on both live DVDs. However, the group's time in the spotlight would prove short lived. A dispute between Anselmo and Fazzio led to the band's eventual split in late 2004, which was confirmed by both Hank Williams III and Jimmy Bower.
Superjoint Ritual would reunite in 2014 as Superjoint for legal reasons. Hank Williams III was initially supposed to take part in this first reunion show, but had to bow out due to personal issues.[17]
Assjack[]
Assjack was an American heavy metal band led by Hank Williams III and Garrett Bremer. Throughout the 2000s Assjack was one of the three incarnations of Williams' live show. Williams recorded a full album of material, performing vocals and all instruments. The eponymous Assjack saw release on 4 August 2009.[18]
For live purposes, the band features Gary Lindsey on vocals, Hank Williams III on guitar and vocals, and Joe Buck who used to be on bass but is now focused on his solo career. Assjack has had a revolving drum slot and background vocalist slot throughout the years. On recent tours, Chris Arp has played lead guitar.
Hank III confirmed in a November 10, 2009 interview that no new Assjack material is in the works because of being held back by Curb Records so long. Hank III also stated that after Curb is dropped (after the release of his 2010 solo album Rebel Within) that he would be taking his music and Assjack's music to the next level.
Arson Anthem[]
Arson Anthem would be founded in 2006. After losing all his possessions in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Mike Williams moved into Anselmo's spare apartment. The two spent countless hours listening to Phil’s collection of early hardcore bands. They began jamming with Hank III and Collin Yeo, who were united by their desire to have a hardcore punk band of their very own. According to Williams, the group spent six days in Houston, Texas recording eight songs in the spring of 2006. Their self-titled debut EP was released on 19 February 2008. The band performed occasional shows leading up to the album's release.[19]
The band's only album Insecurity Notoriety would see release via Housecore Records on 10 October 2010. The album garnered positive reception[20] and ranked #7 on Exclaim!'s "Metal Albums of The Year".[21] The band would do a short tour of the USA in January of 2011 with haarp and Warbeast.[22]
When asked in an interview on July 17, 2013 if anything new would happen with Arson Anthem, Anselmo said "Arson? No. There's probably nothing new going to happen with Arson but, it was fun to do while it lasted, and once again yeah given the circumstance the singer for Arson Anthem is also the singer for Eyehategod and I know that they have a tour coming up that's going to last them about 5 weeks in Europe and they just got through tracking their new album over here at the studio, so hopefully there's a great chance that I get to mix that record and be a part of that record. So Arson, like I said is one of many side projects that I've done in the past but as for right now nah, there's nothing left to do."
Bands[]
- Bedwetter - Bass (Unknown Time Period)
- Rift - Performer (Unknown Time Period)
- Salida - Guitar (Unknown Time Period)
- Shroud - Performer (Unknown Time Period)
- Whipping Post - Bass (Unknown Time Period)
- Buzzkill - Drums (1992 - ?)
- Hank Williams III - Guitar, Vocals (1991 - 2014)
- Assjack - Guitar, Vocals (1999 - 2012)
- Superjoint Ritual - Bass (2002 - 2004)
- Arson Anthem - Drums (2006 - 2013)
- 3 - Guitar, Vocals (2013 - 2014)
Selected Discography[]
Solo Discography[]
- Three Hanks: Men with Broken Hearts (Collaborative Album) (1996, Curb)
- Risin' Outlaw (Studio Album) (1999, Curb)
- Lovesick, Broke and Driftin (Studio Album) (2002, Curb)
- Straight to Hell (Studio Album) (2006, Bruc / Curb)
- Damn Right, Rebel Proud (Studio Album) (2008, Sidewalk / Curb)
- Rebel Within (Studio Album) (2010, Sidewalk / Curb)
- Hillbilly Joker (Studio Album) (2011, Curb)
- Ghost to a Ghost/Gutter Town (Double Album) (2011, Hank3 Records)
- 3 Bar Ranch Cattle Callin (Studio Album) (2011, Hank3 Records)
- Attention Deficit Domination (Studio Album) (2011, Hank3 Records)
- Brothers of The 4x4 (Double Album) (2013, Hank3 Records)
- A Fiendish Threat (As 3) (2013, Hank3 Records)
Superjoint Ritual[]
- Live in Dallas, TX 2002 (Live DVD) (2002, Sanctuary)
- A Lethal Dose of American Hatred (Studio Album) (2003, Sanctuary)
- Live at CBGB (Live DVD) (2004, Sanctuary)
Arson Anthem[]
- Arson Anthem (EP) (2008, Housecore)
- Insecurity Notoriety (Album) (2010, Housecore)
Selected Other Releases[]
- Melvins - The Crybaby (Studio Album; Vocals on "Ramblin Man" and "Okie From Muskogee") (2000, Ipecac)
- Rise Above (24 Black Flag Songs To Benefit The West Memphis Three) (Tribute Album) (2002, Sanctuary)
- Brujeria - The Mexecutioner! - The Best of Brujeria (Compilation; Liner Notes) (2003, Roadrunner)
- Rebel Meets Rebel – Rebel Meets Rebel (Studio Album; Vocals on "Get Outta My Life") (2006, Big Vin Records)
- For The Sick - A Tribute to Eyehategod (Tribute Album) (2007, Emetic Records)
- Assjack - Assjack (Studio Album) (2009, Curb)
- Moonbow - Volto del demone (Studio Album; Vocals on "One Way to Die") (2015, Self-Released)
- Devildriver - Outlaws 'til the End, Vol. I (Studio Album; Vocals on "Country Heroes) (2018, Napalm Records)
- Intimidation - Spiritually Thrashed Demos 2015 - 2018 (Compilation, Vocals on "Spirtual Thrashing") (2020, Self-Released)
External Links[]
References[]
- ↑ Saving Country Music
- ↑ Bullzeye
- ↑ ACM Country
- ↑ Rockabilly.net
- ↑ MTV
- ↑ Spectrum Culture
- ↑ The Toronto Star
- ↑ Saving Country Music
- ↑ No Depression
- ↑ Hank3 Official via Wayback Machine
- ↑ BrooklynVegan
- ↑ MXDWN
- ↑ Saving Country Music
- ↑ Saving Country Music
- ↑ Classic Country Music
- ↑ Saving Country Music
- ↑ Metalsucks
- ↑ Music Direct via Wayback Machine
- ↑ Last.fm
- ↑ Metal Injection
- ↑ Exclaim!
- ↑ Blabbermouth