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INTERVIEW WITH HANK WILLIAMS III
By: David Iozzia
When Hank Williams III was answering my interview questions,
he was in Lincoln, Nebraska, kicking back on the tour bus waiting
for showtime.
Dave: Hey Hank III, thanks for letting me conduct this interview.
Best of luck with your new record, “Straight to Hell,”
and the tour supporting it. With your lineage and your family’s
country music legacy, nobody is more qualified to make this
statement. It’s from the lyrics of your song “Thrown
Out of the Bar.” You statement that “country music
has lost its soul.” How has that happened?
HANK III: The lawyers out-smarted the musicians and took over
the business. It’s been fucked ever since. There used
to be a little half and half going on. Nowadays, it’s
nothing but “the machine” running it.
Dave: Today’s country music is not your country music,
and it’s not the country music of Hank Williams and the
country outlaws that followed in his footsteps. Country music
has evolved and changed, for better or worse, over the last
60 years. Why did it  change?
HANK III: Things change quick dude, and some people got bored
playing just four chords. Others started figuring out how to
make slicker sounds and all of that stuff. Then, if we skip
over the 70’s and 80’s, performers like Shania Twain
came along. Before she ever did a show in the country world
she sold 5 million records. That sets a standard and everybody
tries to jump on that bandwagon.
Dave: When did it start changing?
HANK III: Things got different after the 70’s. From me
listening and watching the business, that’s when people
in New York City and Los Angeles started getting involved in
the country muisc scene.
Dave: Is it too late, or can you change it back, or change
it into something new and improved?
HANK III: I don’t consider myself a “purist.”
Guys like Wayne “The Train” Hancock are the purists
in country music. He’s the Hank Williams of today and
Dale Watson is the Merle Haggard of today. I’m not here
to change country music or to save it or whatever the task is.
I just do what I do. Some people respect it, some people don’t.
I’m just one of the rebels out there, talking the shit
and keeping it real.
Dave: What does your record “Straight to Hell”
do to “put the dick back in Dixie”?
HANK III: It’s made our record label start a new division.
Instead of Curb Records, they’re named Bruc Records. That’s
a big step in itself. Plus, they added a “parental advisory”
to my record. I’ve had a fight going on for years with
my label. I had a “Fuck Curb” campaign ongoing,
and they’ve gotten scared and made some changes. I recorded
this album on a $500 machine. I’m showing bands that you
don’t have to spend $200,000 making a record and then
be in debt to your record label forever. I’m out there,
laying down a foundation and paying the dues. My audience ranges
from 18 to 80, and I get respect from the metal world and the
country world. Plus, it’s the year of the devil, and everything
adds up perfect.
Dave: I’m enjoying listening to your new record. There’s
enough banjo, fiddle, and steel pedal guitar for me to call
it country. Yet your attitude, your lyrics, and the emotions
you sing with would fit on a punk rock record. It’s such
a unique musical vision that you show with this record. Reading
and listening between the lines I can hear you stating musically,
“Fuck country, pop-country, and alt-country, I’m
gonna throw down something new I call punk-country. Is that
your intent?
HANK III: I’m just doing what I do, man. I’m not
out to set goals, to change things, to break records, create
a new sound, or any of that shit. My job is to make records,
get them released, and play shows. After that, whatever happens
happens. I’ve seen way too many people set themselves
up only to fall down pretty fuckin’ hard. I don’t
expect shit out of what I do. All I expect is to make a couple
of grand at the end of the tour, go home for a month to heal
up, and then go out and do it again. My mentality is to do that
until I’m at least 50.
Dave: Your musical statement is so natural and it never sounds
calculated. Neil Young was quoted once talking about Lynyrd
Skynyrd and he said, “they play it like they mean it.”
My quote about you, which I hope a few people read and believe,
is “Hank III says it, and he fuckin’ means it.”
HANK III: I hear you. That’s one of the good things,
or bad things, about me. I speak the truth in my songs and to
whoever asks me questions, whether it hurts me or not. That’s
just the way it is, and it’s one of my biggest problems.
Dave: To me Hank III, that’s one of your biggest attributes.
Don’t change a thing. Let’s get back to your new
album, “Straight to Hell.” You self-produced it,
going low-tech and low-budget. Please elaborate on the production
of this record and the D-1600 digital recording technology that
you used.
HANK III: The Korg D-1600 sells for about $500 on Ebay. They
are very musician-friendly and easy to use, a lot more than
Pro-Tools. With a couple of moves, you’re plugged in,
playing, recording, and ready to go. I think every songwriter
or band should have one in the rehearsal room. With a couple
of decent microphones, you’re on your way making music.
Dave: If somebody was only going to add one Hank Williams III
song from “Straight to Hell” to their i-Pod, which
song do you think tells people what you’re all about?
HANK III: Some folks say I’m ill-mannered and that I’ll
self-destruct, so the song “Dick in Dixie” best
explains what I do. We’re a dysfunctional family and that’s
what people say about us all of the time. People say “he’s
a loose cannon and he ain’t gonna make it very long.”
Well, I’ve beaten down this road for 12 years. So what
if I’m not one of those guys who stepped right into the
game, didn’t pay any dues at all, and still got embraced
by the Country Music Association.
Dave: I read a review of “Straight to Hell” and
the writer stated that your “grandfather would be proud,”
and I’d have to agree. You chose to cover “I Could
Never Be Ashamed of You” by Hank Williams on the second
disc from “Straight to Hell.” With that in mind,
are there things that you do that Hank Williams would be ashamed
of?
HANK III: The Playgirl interview I did would probably embarrass
him. No telling man, because you’re talking about a guy
that was half the time sober and the other half the time he
was really drunk. Back then, he was rolling cars, getting in
fights, and carrying guns. The Assjack and metal music has people
saying that Hank Willimas is rolling around in his grave. Well
that’s fine too. I chose my path a long time ago, taking
the hard way and not the easy way. If I was taking the easy
way, I’d be wearing a clean cowboy hat and boots, doing
the least amount of shows for the most amount of money. I’m
totally opposite of that. Hank Willimas might be proud of that
to a point, but shit, everybody’s gotta be their own person.
Dave: Your father was only a few years old when his father
died. Did you learn about Hank Williams through books, or did
you have relatives who told you about him firsthand?
HANK III: I learned about him mostly by being a fan of his
music. I heard the stories from Roy Acuff, Little Jimmy Dickens,
Minnie Pearl, and George Jones. I heard all of the goods and
bads firsthand.
Dave: On the title track of the record you sing “I’m
going straight to hell, and nothing’s slowing me down.”
Nothing today, but how about tomorrow? Is there anything that
might make you look hard at yourself in the mirror and cause
you to change and slow down?
HANK III: If I make it to 50, that’s when I’ll
enjoy the other side of life. I’m here to beat down this
road as long as I can. When I’m 50, if my ears are still
working, I’ll take a break from the road. I’ll do
20 shows a year instead of 180. I’ll do some mixing and
producing. Until then it’s a rat race, making sure the
crew’s taken care of, kicking the booking agent’s
ass, management’s ass, and the record label’s ass
because no one’s really working for me. It’s a ball
of anxiety every day. My job is to play music, but I’ve
been forced to turn it into a business. I have 10 projects sitting
there gathering dust for a fuckin’ year. It’s frustrating
because all I’m doing is making music and trying to be
creative. All they’re doing is sitting on it and acting
like I’m gonna be here forever. As far as drugging and
drinking and all of that shit goes, I’m gonna be here
for a long time. I don’t have no fuckin’ deathwish.
Even though I’m going straight to hell, I’m here
to have a long, miserable life.
Dave: Let’s change gears and talk about your tour. You
just played at the South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas.
That’s one musical event that I haven’t had the
chance to attend. Please talk about SXSW from two perspectives,
onstage performing and as a music fan walking around and checking
out all of the bands.
HANK III: Being a music fan walking around, it would be real
cool. It’s a damn good time. That’s probably the
only good thing about it. It’s supposed to be for bands
that aren’t signed, but I’ve had to do it two times
and hopefully this was my last one. Onstage, I don’t consider
it a real gig. It’s all about the media and that type
of stuff. There’s only a few real people and fans in the
mix. For guys like myself or White Stripes, there’s no
fuckin’ reason for us to be there.
Dave: Your current tour has you playing three different sets
each night. Please describe the three sets, and who are the
musicians joining you onstage during this tour?
HANK III: My opening set is my country stuff, it’s high-energy
at times, but we do have some slow stuff. Some days the voice
works great, some days it’s ragged out as shit, but I’m
always fighting for it. Joe Buck is on bass, Andy Gibson is
on steel guitar, Adam McOwen is on fiddle, and Munash Sami is
on drums. The middle set I call hellbilly, with the same country
instruments involved. Gary Lindsay, the frontman from Assjack
comes out, and we take it to another level. It’s pretty
rockin’, like a pumped up Revereand Horton Heat, with
a little more screaming involved. After a couple of minutes
break, it’s time for Assjack. It’s full-on, it’s
hardcore, and there’s a little bit of punk and metal influences.
It’s high-energy, with a lot of screaming and loud guitars.
Gary’s fronting, I’m on electric guitar and vocals,
Joe Buck’s on bass, and Munash Sami is still up ther drumming.
Dave: Are the country music fans leaving early while the hardcore
music fans are arriving late?
HANK III: It depends. We usually lose some people when Assjack
comes out, but it is a 2 ½ hour show in total. Sometimes
50 people take off, sometimes 250, and sometime’s it’s
the same. The kids in black show up early and sit there, but
you can tell they’re waiting for the harder stuff.
Dave: Changing equipment a little between sets is easy, but
do you have to change your frame of mind for the different styles
of music?
HANK III: No, not at all. The whole frame of mind thing is
mid-afternoon, warming up my voice for the country set. That’s
it. It’s what makes me have an awful night or a halfway
decent night. If I have no fuckin’ voice at all, I hate
everything and everybody. That’s awful because I’m
feeling it for my fans, and I want to put on a good show. When
I have no country voice, it sucks. But that’s the way
it is, I chose my path a long time ago doing all of the screaming
stuff. I’ve been doing the three sets a long time so it’s
all a blur. Here’s part one, here’s part two, and
here’s the third; we’re getting close to the end.
Then it’s time to say hello to everybody.
Dave: Is it a physical challenge to sing three sets every night?
HANK III: Definitely. I do everything I can to wake up my voice.
I do so many tricks to keep it going. Getting the voice and
keeping it is the never-ending fight.
Dave: Most of the tour dates on your current tour are in the
heartland, and you’re giving country music fans a dose
of metal madness. Do you have any thoughts of playing on the
West coast or in the Northeast to give your rock fans a dose
of country?
HANK III: Oh yeah, this is only the first run of the year. I
just sent my booking agent 60 more dates, all over Texas, California,
and the Northeast. We’re just getting back on our feet
after one of our guys got hurt in a car wreck. We’ll tour
all year, four to six weeks at a time, with a month off in-between.
That’s how I like to handle it, that’s all that
my voice can handle.
Dave: Speaking of rock music, since you name your country heroes
on “Straight to Hell,” who are your rock and roll
heroes?
HANK III: Buzz Osbourne from the Melvins, Kirk Windstein from
Crowbar, Henry Rollins from Black Flag, Phil Anselmo from Pantera,
Matt Pike from High on Fire, and bands like Husker Du and early
Pentagram.
Dave: The band Superjoint Ritual rocked a club called Starland
Ballroom in New Jersey last year. I didn’t get a chance
to meet you, but I did meet up with drummer Joe Fazzio, who
gave me a pair of his sticks for my drumstick collection. What’s
the current status of Superjoint Ritual?
HANK III: Superjoint is officially in the grave right now,
Phil’s put it in the ground. He’s recording a new
Down record and touring with them. My new project with Phil
Anselmo is called Arson Anthem. We started it a few weeks ago.
It’s old school, brutal, and hardcore. Phil’s on
guitar, I’m drumming, Mike Williams from Eyehategod is
on vocals, and a kid named Colin plays bass.
Dave: Superjoint Ritual has also played on the Ozzfest tour,
which has become an annual concert event. Please talk about
your experiences playing at Ozzfest.
HANK III: As far as the historic aspects, it was an honor to
be up there with Slayer, Judas Priest, Black Label Society,
and Black Sabbath. For everything Phil preached about Superjoint
Ritual, he and I agreed that we should not have been on the
main stage. All the kids throw down and all of that kind of
music goes down on the side stage.
Dave: Would you care to switch places and ask me a question?
HANK III: Sure Dave. What’s the last show you’ve
been to?
Dave: I just saw The Cult at the House of Blues in Atlantic
City. I mentioned my drumstick collection to you earlier. At
the show, I went headfirst over a metal railing, cut up my shoulder
on the way down, and ended up with my first souvenir tambourine
after their singer Ian Astbury tossed it into the crowd.
HANK III: Dude, that rules! What a funny story.
Dave: Is there a question you’ve always hope an interviewer
would ask you that’s never been asked? If so, what’s
the question and how would you answer it?
HANK III: It’s probably been asked but what got me into
music was drums. They created my love of music, especially the
metal and hardcore stuff. Drums are my psychiatrist, and they
turned me on to a whole new style of music. To this day, they
make me feel like I’m 17 years old in an old guy’s
body.
Dave: Do you have plans to do either a rock or punk solo record
someday soon?
HANK III: I was told there may be a chance in the next six
months, but saying and doing is two different things. I’ve
been fighting a long time to get that record done.
Dave: Let’s have a little bit of fun and pick a rockin’
all-star band to join you touring that type of record. Pick
a few guys that you’ve never played with that you’d
like to accompany you onstage.
HANK III: Matt Pike from High on Fire on guitar and Pete Sandoval
from Morbid Angel on drums. Working with Mike Patton from Faith
No More would be awesome. Opening shows for Mastodon, Lamb of
God, or Strapping Young Lad would be off the hook.
Dave: Let’s have a little bit more fun. You’ve
played on tribute albums to Johnny Cash, ZZ Top, and Bruce Springsteen.
Pick a Hank III song that each of them could hypothetically
do justice to on a tribute album to you.
HANK III: Johnny Cash could cover “Crazed Country Rebel”
and Bruce could do “Cecil Brown.” Ol’ Billy
Gibbons and ZZ Top could do “Down in Houston,” but
that song’s not out yet. Me and Billy are supposed to
do that song together someday.
Dave: You clearly express your opinions on country music today
and Music Row on your current record “Straight to Hell.”
What’s your opinion on the rock and roll music industry
today?
HANK III: I don’t know my politics too much on the rock
and roll side. I don’t watch much TV or listen to the
radio so I’m pretty disconnected. In March 2006, Black
Sabbath was finally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame and that’s about 15 years too late. If it took this
long to recognize Black Sabbath, then man, something is definitely
beyond fucked up.
Dave: Your song “Not Everybody Likes Us” knocks
Kid Rock, stating he “don’t come from where I come
from.” Well he doesn’t come from where I come either,
and I wish he’d go back to wherever he is from. He’s
showing up everywhere and I wish he’d crawl under a rock
and hide. I can understand a band like Black Sabbath letting
Metallica induct them at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony.
Why in the world would a band like Lynyrd Skynyrd not only let
Kid Rock be at the podium to induct them into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame, but also let him perform onstage with them?
HANK III: I lost respect for Kid Rock when dead seriously,
in the first minutes of meeting him, he told me that he was
the next Elvis. My reason for the song lyrics is my Dad’s
duet with Kid Rock. He makes his money talking about bitches
and whores, and they give me shit about my songs. It’s
a double standard. Giving me hell for being a southern rebel
is completely out of line. Hank Jr. called Kid Rock his rebel
southern son in a song so people assume he’s my brother.
Fuck no! That’s why I had to state in a song that it’s
set in stone, and he ain’t from our blood. It’s
gotta be a payoff or money oriented when a band like Lynyrd
Skynyrd lets him up on stage. Somebody from the Allman Brothers
or somebody with a history should have inducted Lynyrd Skynyrd,
not some coked-up guy from Detroit who’s made a little
niche. But they’ve all fallen for his shit: Willie Nelson,
George Jones, Billy Gibbons, Hank Jr., and countless rock bands.
He must have a helluva management to get him in on all of those
schmooze gigs. It is what it is though. It’s weird. Same
thing with Jerry Lee Lewis: Kid Rock went up on The Killer’s
fuckin’ piano during Jerry Lee’s big night. That’s
disrespecting to the old guys because it’s them, not him,
that’s being inducted.
Dave: If I picked up a dictionary in a bookstore in the state
of Tennessee and looked up the word bad-ass, I’d see your
picture next to the definition. The same book in a Texas bookstore
would have a picture of Dimebag Darrell. How would the word
be defined when applied to you and Dime?
HANK III: For me, I’m a road dog doing what I do, out
on the road for the sake of music. Eating it, living it, and
breathing it. As far as Dime goes, he was bad before he was
nine years old. That big head of hair, playing a mean guitar,
drinking like a fool, always playing pranks, and always with
a smile on his face. There’s times he’d be pissed
off and throw a ruckus, but you’ll never meet a guy with
such great vibes around him. He made it look easy. But them
guitar players have that damn monkey on their back like Randy
Rhoads, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Dimebag, and countless others. There’s
a fucked-up, weird thing that has something out for them guitar
players.
Dave: It’s been a little more than a year since Dimebag’s
tragic and senseless death. Too many people are starting to
forget, and I want to do all I can do to keep his memory alive.
Would you please share a special memory or story about your
relationship with the late, great Dimebag Darrell?
HANK III: The last time I saw Dime, we went back to his house
after a show. We were recording music and having some fun. We
had a misunderstanding with a stripper from his club who was
on our bus. A bunch of police came, and after they talked with
me, Dime smoothed everything out. Now we had to get back to
the interstate after partying all night. He lived in suburbia
and he said he’d get us there. He takes out the neighbors
mailbox and scrubs driving away from his house, destroying everything
in his path, yet we got to the spot to turn the bus left onto
the highway. That motherfucker goes straight into the woods
at 40 miles per hour and crashes into a tree. He gets out of
the car, throws his horns into the air and screams “fuckin’
rock and roll, man.” We helped him out of the ditch, back
into his car, and he swore he’d get back home. That’s
the last time I saw him, with a big smile on his face, raising
the horns, wrecking his car, and having fun.
Dave: The Internet, with personal website forums, e-mail, and
websites like Myspace.com, gives musical artists a lot of opportunity
to communicate one-on-one with their fans. Video and audio rechnology
these days gives fans a chance to make pretty high-quality tapes
of bands at concerts and you have a very liberal taping policy
at your shows. In their day, do you think Hank Williams and
Hank Williams Jr. would have embraced these technologies if
they were available?
HANK III: Hank Sr. should have embraced it more because there’s
only a handful of film reels of him performing. Hank Jr. would
probably not embrace it because he was born into the family
money and he’s more about business. I always looked at
it like taping never hurt the Grateful Dead. The record company
machine holds us back so taping of shows gets our music out
there faster to the fans. By the time you hear them on record,
the songs are already old.
Dave: That’s all of the questions I have. Is there anything
I’ve neglected to cover that you’d like to promote
or do you have any closing comments for your fans and music
fans worldwide?
HANK III: Keep a look out for Arson Anthem. Phil Anselmo will
have his record company, Housecore, up and going soon. We’ll
have a shit load of projects coming out. I’ll be on the
road forever doing my thing, and hit us up on the Internet to
see what we’re doing.
You can visit Hank III on the web here Hank
3's website is www.hank3.com
His Myspace page is http://www.myspace.com/hankwilliams3 |
