Browsing articles tagged with " Down"
Dec
26

The Influence of Hank Williams III on Modern Music

By The Triggerman  //  Down with Pop Country, Free Hank III  //  6 Comments

On not just a few occasions since I started Free Hank III, I’ve found myself attempting to justify to someone why I think Hank Williams III is such an influential and important musician in country music, and why he and his music is worth fighting for.

Sometimes it is in person, sometimes in the comments of a blog or through email. Sometimes the people are not fans of Hank III, or they aren’t any more because he’s “gone metal,” and some are big fans but just don’t believe that he is that important in the grand scheme of things, now or when you take a few steps back and look at the history of country music as a whole.

But I always insist and state my case for Hank III, not just as a fan of the man, but as a fan of country music and a tireless geek of country music history.

I’m not sure that Hank III is TRYING to influence the fate country music, I think he is just doing his thing, doing what he wants to do and speaking from his heart, just like all influential artists have through time.

Upon occasions signs of Hank III’s impact spring up unexpectedly, and remind me just how important the man and his music have been. For example it sprang up in the comments section of THIS BLOG I wrote a couple of weeks back, that had nothing to do with Hank III. A faithful reader of mine Burch said:

“After about 20 years and thousands upon thousands of dollars spent, I’d finally accumulated a fair collection of heavy metal music. Then I heard Hank III and figured “Hell, listening to one or two country guys isn’t going to kill me.” Two years after hearing him and now having discovered all of these other guys like Dale (Watson) and the ever-growing list of real country acts out there that absolutely kill the mainstream segment of the genre, it’s clear that I’m never going to have a spare dime for as long as I live.”

Hank III turned Burch and thousands of others on to country music. III showed them that REAL country music was not the stuff they were playing on pop radio, and was a gateway to REAL country musicians of the present and the past.

Then Restless in Amsterdam showed that it could go the other way around; from country to metal:

From Restless:

“That’s funny, it went for me the other way around . . . I listened to country music and rockabilly a lot, like Waylon, Hank, David Allan Coe, Merle Haggard, Stray Cats, Buddy Holly, etc. etc. . . I discovered metal like Down, Arson Anthem, Panthera and last year I went to see the Misfits because I learned about that here via Hank III. . .

Then about a week or so ago, by a complete stupid accident I stumbled upon THIS BLOG by a 60-year-old man named John, who had been turned on to Hank III’s Straight to Hell by a friend.

It reminded me of the first time I heard Risin’ Outlaw. Not only was I an instant fan, but something about the music wanted me to tell anyone and everyone about it. I was like “Holy Shit, this is the music I’ve been waiting my whole life for. It’s not radio country, ITS REAL COUNTRY!”

And Hank III has been a proverbial conduit for good music (country, metal, punk) for thousands and thousands of people. He treats his clothing, guitar, and even his flesh like a billboard of good music to check out, like road map for all of us to follow to this underground music world where the music is true in its feeling and in its roots.

Hank Williams III has sacrificed the MILLIONS OF DOLLARS he could’ve made riding off his name, becoming a pop country product, for staying true to the music. And even if you’re not a Hank III fan, or are lukewarm on his music, the man is worth recognizing just for that.

Dec
22

Hank III OFFICIAL Tour Info (GET SOME !!!)

By The Triggerman  //  Free Hank III, News  //  4 Comments



OK people, remember when I wrote in THIS BLOG to not believe any tour info until it is posted on hank3.com or the Official MySpace site? And remember when I told you not to trust gossip websites like blabbermouth.net, who posted TWICE that Hank III would be touring with Down?

Well I hope you listened to me, because I just got official word that HANK III AND DOWN WILL NOT BE TOURING TOGETHER!

Instead Hank III will be headlining his own tour (yippee!) with goth country group Those Poor Bastards opening at least some of the dates. The only date that has been confirmed at this point is 2-15-09 at the House of Blues in New Orleans, but other dates should come available soon. But again, no date is official until you see it on an official Hank III website.

And as always I will try to keep you as up to date as possible and post all official Hank III news here, so subscribing to this blog is a good way to stay up to date.

I thought that touring with Down would’ve garnered Hank III some new fans, but as a greedy, already established fan, I want all the Hank III I can get, and a 25 minute country set and 25 minute Assjack set they would’ve played opening for Down would’ve not helped cure my Hank jones out at all.

So I am a happy little Hellbilly. Merry Xmas to me.

What do you think ??? Sound off.

Dec
18

Tour Info !!

By The Triggerman  //  Free Hank III, News  //  3 Comments

Alright people, so I’ve been getting emails and reading lots of innernet chatter about an upcoming Hank III tour. It is clear that a tour is coming up, but I warn:

No tours or dates are official until they are posted on hank3.com or the official myspace.

You might even see tickets for sale through venues or the evil empire of Ticketmaster. But I warn you, last Spring there were a bunch of people who bought tickets for a tour of the West that never happened, and they still haven’t got their money back.

And remember how III was going to be on Jimmy Kimmel? Yeah, never happened.

III’s peeps have gone out of their way to say that NOTHING is official until it is listed on the website, so that is who I’d trust, not some gossip website or esp. not Ticketmaster.

Having said all of that it does appear something is in the works. blabbermouth.com is reporting that Hank III will be touring with Phil Anselmo’s Down , as well as metal bands Weedeater and Evil Army, in February and March.

No word on where they might tour, but my wild-eyed guess is that it will be in the south and east, and maybe the midwest. Then III will regroup and head out West.

III had also said in a previous interview that there would be about 25 dates, and that he would be playing 25 minutes of country, and 25 minutes of Assjack. So the metalheads will probably be happy and the countrified people will probably be pissed, yeah yeah. But this will be great exposure for III in an audience he can win over, and he’ll get out there doing his own thing soon enough.

As soon as any dates go OFFICIAL, then I will post them here. I expect something to hit here shortly.

OTHER TOUR NEWS:

Man, just in the past few weeks there has been some great announcements of big namers touring together. Wayne “The Train” Hancock is going to be touring with Bob Wayne & the Outlaw Carnies Kentucky, NY, and Illinois this Spring, and then Wayne and Joe Buck are going to play a few shows together up in the Pacific Northwest in July. Joe Buck will also be touring Europa for the first time starting in February. And last but not least Rachel Brooke is talking about getting out there on the road as well, so keep your eyes on her for upcoming dates, if you hadn’t been keeping your eyes on her already.



Let’s be honest, it’s kind of hard to take your eyes off!!! (hehe)

And of course, you can check all of these artist’s MySpace sites for all dates. A lot of good stuff is happening, and we all need to get out there and support these great underground artists!

      
KOOK
Bloodshot Records
Outlaw Radio
It Burns When I Pee
Muddy Roots Music
Tim Pop Live

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