The Plan, Stan.

Listen, as far as I’m concerned this thing is not over yet. I’ve had a lot f people emailing and leaving messages wondering what I’m going to do next or if I’m just going to quit this thing, but my plan is not to quit until the Mission Statement is completely satisfied. The Mission Statement from freehank3.org is:

“The mission of Free Hank 3.org is to have Shelton Hank Williams III most recent album ‘Damn Right, Rebel Proud’ released by Curb Records, and to have Curb Records release him from his current contract if they are unwilling to release his music in a timely method, or represent him equitably as an artist, or promote his music in a fair manner.”>

At this point it seems like only a small part of that has been accomplished, and that is ONLY if Curb Records actually GIVES Damn Right, Rebel Proud a release date, and then actually releases it on that date. The album has already had three release dates before, all of which came and went with no album. Same thing happened with Straight to Hell and it MIGHT happen with the next album.

Having said that, it does seem like Curb truly has had a change of heart. I’m not trying to act like I’m some dude who’s real buddy buddy with the people in the Hank III inner circle, and actually I couldn’t be or this might be seen as a violation of Hank III’s contract. But I have been in contact with some of his peeps, and they seem to think this is the real deal this time.

And I’m happy about that, we should all be happy about that. But I’m not going anywhere until the Mission Statement is completely fulfilled, or until Hank III himself tells me to shut it down.

As for what I’ll do with the organization we’ve built once the mission is accomplished, we’ll cross that bride when we get there. For now let’s eat what’s on our plate. For those that want me to throw my full weight behind Reinstate Hank , I very well might do that. But if you go back and read my old blogs, you’ll see that there are about just as many dealing with Reinstating Hank as there are about Freeing Hank III. That’s because I see them as two battles in the same war. That’s why I also try to promote other bands and musicians too, because Hank III and Hank Sr. are just one of many out there getting screwed.

My overall plan is to eventually unite all the Outlaw Country artists, old and new, under one big tent, just like Willie Nelson did in the early 70’s, to retake country music from the pop country corporate puppets. And I think Hank III’s music plays a huge role in that, because he brings with him the metalheads, and the strongest grass roots following any musician has ever had. You’ve all just proven how strong Hank III’s fan base is, and to not fuck with it.

But long story short, I ain’t going anywhere, and I hope you don’t either.

On a completely separate note, my last blog cracked the top 20 in the MySpace music blog rankings. And the one before that, Hiram, Randall, & Shelton hit 41 yesterday. I’m not trying to pat my own back, the reason I’m bringing it up is because when you start to get near the top, you have lots of people who would normally not read these blogs check them out because they’re ranked so high, and this helps spread the message of the movement.

In fact I got a message yesterday from a dude who said he hated country music, but he saw my blogs in the rankings, and eventually wound up signing the petition to Reinstate Hank, simply because he’s pissed off about ALL pop radio, because really every style of music is hurting nowadays.

I don’t imagine this blog will crack the top 20, but if you like what you are reading in these blogs here, please leave kudos, but don’t if you don’t cause I’m not looking for handouts. You can also subscribe to this blog and you’ll get a message each time I post one by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ under my pic in the top left corner.

Onward and Upward!