Hank Williams, Jr.: Beyond a family tradition

Hank Williams Jr - photo by Rick Diamond of Getty Images

Today when it comes to describing country music history, you cannot help but add Hank Williams, Jr. as one of the innovators and influencers. There are few acts in the music business period that can withstand musical style changes in the field of country music for decades and still crank out hits. He has helped open the door to newer acts by having them open for his concerts. Music doesn't fall far from the music tree as his children are following the legacy that he has followed with his dad, Hank Williams.

Hank Williams, Jr. recently released, "It's About Time," that serves a reflection on the multiple decades of pure raw country music. It achieved the highest studio album peak position of his career with a No. 2 album on Billboard’s Top Country Albums and broke the Top 10 on Billboard’s Top 200, landing at No. 8. With numerous honors and recognition, as well as charity work over the years, one would wonder when he would fully be accepted as a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Whether you know him as Hank, Jr., Bocephus, or the son of Hank Williams, there is no question about it, he has influenced many of singers across multiple genres of music.

Recently, I got the chance to ask Hank Williams, Jr. a few questions on his musical legacy, as well his new album.

Jessica Bray: What was the deciding factor to having Chris Stapleton to open for you on several shows this summer while on tour?

Hank Williams, Jr: Well, my manager and agent called me a year ago and said they had this really great guy that they wanted me to consider opening some shows. I was thinking who is this guy? Then I heard his songs and he reminded me a lot like myself and my buddies Willie, Waylon, and Johnny. He was just himself. Then, pow, he starts winning all these awards and people start to discover him. It really wasn't a thing of I wanted him or not, it was about the music and what I felt the fans that come to my shows would like. I think it is a very good package and that the fans coming to the show are going to love both his and my show.

JB: Do you feel like you are passing the “country music torch” to Eric Church and Justin Moore with the release of “Are You Ready for the Country” and “Born to Boogie” respectively?

HW: Hell no. I am not done yet and I don't think those guys would want me to think that I am done and ready to pass along the torch. I have a lot of respect for those guys and their musicianship, and I know they have said many times that they have listened to me for years. So I don’t think this is the right time to hang it up. I am still having fun and making great records.

JB: With “Dress Like an Icon,” you are correct – women are drawn to a sharp dressed man. What would you suggest men have to impress the ladies? Also, what kind of person do you think can pull of a rhinestone suit by Manuel or Nudie?

HW: Hey now, those words were very easy to come to me when I wrote that song. I am serious now, that song has a ton of meaning. No matter who you are, you have to be comfortable with what you are wearing, how you look, how you feel, and that's really what this song talks about. Today, Manuel and Nudie suits are not that common, but back in the day, that was really the happening thing.

JB: You have never stopped making music. What would be an estimate of how many songs that you have written, but not yet released?

HW: I write songs all the time. I used to have scraps of paper everywhere with lyrics of songs, titles to songs, and just ideas that came to me for a song. Now, I keep the iPad close by and I write no matter where I am. I have written thousands of songs, some I have recorded, some I have in the catalog, while others have been recorded by other artists.

JB: You keep hearing reports that people are not buying albums anymore, but you, along with Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, and Willie Nelson have proven them wrong with charting high on the Billboard album charts. Why do you think people are still drawn to traditional country music over the decades?

HW: Good music is just that…good music. I think the fans tell the real story. I only do about 25 shows a year and I sell a lot of merchandise at those shows. I sell quite a few tickets to the shows. So if the fans didn’t want to hear my music, they wouldn’t buy tickets or buy albums. There is still a place for artists like me, and I found it at Nash Icon Records. Scott Borchetta let me make a record that I wanted and his team promoted to the fans. It is a win win for everyone.

JB: Each of your children present a different style of country music, but always presented great showmanship on the stage just like yourself. What is something that you taught each of them about the music business?

HW: I support Holly, Hank III, Hilary, Katie and Sam in all they want to do in the music business or not. Holly is doing great at it. She makes great albums and still tours across the world. Shelton (Hank III) is making great music too. His style has changed over the years, but the fans love his shows and he knows how to perform, that's for sure! The others are doing some things in music, but not to the extent that Holly and Hank III are.

JB: I will say that “Just Call Me Hank” is a true biographical description of your life and career. At the end of the day, how do you want to be best remembered?

HW: I want the fans to know that I was real and made music that was for the fans.

Be sure to check out Hank Williams, Jr. website for upcoming tour dates, purchase his music, and catch up on the latest news.

Conversation on the road with the Grascals

One of bluegrass music's hottest bands, The Grascals, are currently on the Rowdy Friends Tour with Hank Williams, Jr., Eric Church, and Jamey Johnson.  I had the opportunity to speak with Terry Eldredge and Jamie Johnson of the Grascals after their performance about their new release, "The Famous Lefty Flynn's," as well as their relationship to fans and influencing others in the business. Here is that conversation.  

I picked up the new album on Tuesday and loved it. It is one of my favorite ones that you have released so far. You and Hank Jr. performed together on "I'm Blue I'm Lonesome" written by Hank Williams, Sr. and Bill Monroe. How did it feel to record such a historically written song? You can tell even on the recording how the influence of both Monroe and Hank.

Jamie: Incredible for one, I mean anything you get to record with Hank Williams, Jr. for us would be historical because he's an icon of ours in the music business. But that song his daddy wrote with Bill Monroe, the father of our bluegrass music, and pretty much Hank, Sr. If he isn't the father, he's certainly one of the uncles that got our country music going. And back then the two musics were so close that's why they wrote that song together probably because our music was just alike then. It's a little bit different now, but that's ok. To have him come in, he did an incredible job singing on the song. He learned it kinda sitting there. He never sang the song before. He did a great job and it was fun to do.

With the Rowdy Friends Tour, how did you get connected with the tour?

Terry: Kirt Webster, who is Hank's publicist, is our publicist too. Hank had a song that he had written about 15 years ago and he was wanting to cut it bluegrass, but he never ever anything done. He tried it a couple of times before, but never got the right feeling or sound on it. Kirt played some of our stuff to him and Hank said, "That's the sound. That's what I want." So we went in and recorded it and that's how that all happened. We've been friends and associates ever since then.

You have several dates on the tour and just done Charleston Friday night and Louisville tonight. Are there any particular dates that you are looking forward to playing?

Jamie: Nashville.

Terry: Yeah, Nashville for sure.

Jamie: Louisiana is going to be great because that's where Hank's from.

Terry: Any of them really I mean. This is our second night.

Jamie: We don't want to end this thing. The good news is it looks like we may perhaps continue this thing. Later on in the year, he might do some more dates. It's always a feel thing for him. It's not like he has to have the money. This is a passion for him and he's gotta love it and have a good time. So far he's having a great time, so as long as everything keeps up good and we all have fun out here we'll do some dates in October.

Your current single, "Last Train to Clarksville," is a Monkee's remake. How did you pick that song to cover?

Terry: We actually thought about that for an album before and it kinda got discarded.

Jamie: We had never really rehearsed it yet.

Terry: We thought "yeah that might be a great album idea". Jamie was the one that said "What about that Monkee's tune?" We were looking for another song for this album that was different.

Jamie: Actually I heard it on that show that John Rich hosted on CMT where the stars are trying to make it doing the country thing (Gone Country). Mickey Dolenz was on there and he sang "Last Train to Clarksville" country style in downtown Nashville and I heard it. I thought if it would work, we could do it.

It seems like the formula of you having the bluegrass and country style of your music has worked. What do you think has helped with the longevity and success in your career?

Terry: I think it's just that we've all known each other for so long. That's a big part of it. We all get along, you are going to have your discrepancies no matter what. Any thing in your life, you are going to have a discrepancy in your life. But for the best part we try to control and we just love each other. We love the music we're playing. We love the sound we're creating and stuff we're doing. I think that's one of the biggest parts of it.

I know that you are doing Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. Has it helped you relationship with your fans? Does it seem like you're gaining more fans?

Jamie: Yes, it seems like we're gaining and the ones that we already have it helps put them closer to us already. If they are are really interested in what we're doing, they can keep an eye on us everywhere we go. It's a good thing, you know, as long as we're behaving. It's a family band here. The good thing about our fans is that they are our friends. We know most of our fans, they know who we are. We meet many people all the time, shake their hand and talk to them all the time. A lot of them we're invited to their house, our house, and if we're at a bluegrass festival, they'll invite us to come back to their campsite to go eat with them. They realize that we're just normal people and there's nothing special about us.

I know how important that is in the industry today, no matter what genre you're playing.

Jamie: Earlier today, Jeremy Abshire and I played cornhole with some folks. There was a stall in the day so we went out and play cornhole with them. They were out there screaming and brings the fans to you. Dierks (Bentley) is good about that; he'll go out to his people. You'll watch and learn.

Terry: Dierks does a lot of that computer stuff like every day.

Jamie: Yep sure does.

Terry: Jamie's the one that does that for us. I'm stupid about that. Computer illiterate.

I was at the Opry a few years ago when the other Jamey Johnson played on the same show as you. I know Jim Ed Brown kinda got you (Jamie Johnson) mixed up. It was right after your child was born and Jim Ed thought the other Jamey just had a child. He replied with a look on his face and said "She's doing good" and mentioned other stuff. Have you had other mistaken identities with him?

Jamie: I didn't know that about the Opry. That's funny. No, not at the mailbox yet. Some days I wish the mailman would do that. Naw, we pretty much don't look or sound no where alike. Most people don't know me as Jamie Johnson, they know me as Grascal. It's kinda like the guys from Diamond Rio, you don't really know their names. Well we do, but most folks out there in the world don't know their names. Like the band Alabama, when you see someone, you go "That guy's from Alabama." When they see me, that's what they know me as (Grascal). I hate that he took my name (laughing).

Now you just have the grow a beard and some hair.

Jamie: I'll keep with what I've got. I can't grow a beard.

Terry: It might take you a year.

Jamie: Oh and grow maybe an eighth of an inch long then.

How does it feel when others, like Dierks Bentley, say that they have been influenced by your music?

Terry: Other than, you know, it's great. I mean it's wonderful to know that you've touched somebody's life through music, what you enjoy doing. Music is emotion. That's what it is and to touch them through an emotion like that it's one of the greatest things in the world you know. That's how I think about it.

Jamie: It's an honor really. I mean honestly, I've sat there and with Dierks and watched him sing. We sat there at the same table drinking a pitcher of beer and watching him sing thinking dang I like him. To watch somebody like George Jones, or Haggard, people don't sometimes write the song but can still sing it as if they did. That's not something you can learn, I don't care who you are. I do okay at some of them. The majority of my songs, I sing to the best of my ability. To really learn that, that's just a God given talent. We appreciate the people that respect that. I salute Dierks for pointing that out. Shoot, I wrote the title cut of this album, but I want him (Terry) to sing it. It's an honor to learn from people like I do really.

Who do you choose who's going to sing lead on songs?

Jamie: Whatever sounds best. Mostly we find songs that we like.

Terry: There's an awesome song on the new album called "Satan and Grandma." It's an unbelievable song. Jamie wanted me to sing it and I messed with trying but for some reason we were going to run through it one day and I was like "I can't get it, I don't feel it." There's been so many songs that we've passed up, great songs just like that, or even better. It's like we can't, it doesn't fit us. Jamie said, "Well I want to try it." He tried it and hit a home run with it.

 It was indeed a very powerful song.

Terry: I'm glad that you felt that. He sung the heck out of that song.

Jamie: That's one of them that I felt every single word. I mean I have grandmas and I love them very much. That one I felt. Certain ones I can grab a hold of and do magic with. Then there's others that I kinda just do something with. You got to go with the right songs. "Lefty Flynn" I love to sing it too but it's got more of a Haggard feel, that's him (Terry).

Terry: We always just pick songs and run through them. If they fit us, then it's all good. Like I say, "I don't know if I can do this, you try it" to Jamie and he will try it. Or we will both try it and it's like "no" and it will be a great song but it just don't work or fitting us.

As our interview concluded, I do believe that the formula that the Grascals have kept throughout these years to intertwine various styles and making it their own has been a successful one. Not only for them, but for the fans. Fans can check out the Rowdy Friends Tour on these dates:

April 9 – Bossier City, LA 

April 10 – Lafayette, LA 

April 17 – Pikeville, KY w/ The Grascals only 

April 23 – Nashville, TN

April 24 – Duluth, GA

May 7 – Tulsa, OK 

May 8 – Kansas City, MO

The Grascals will be coming back to Kentucky on the following dates/cities:

06.26.10 RudyFest Grayson, KY

06.10.10 Festival of the Bluegrass Lexington, KY

08.07.10 Osborne Brothers Bluegrass Festival Hyden, KY

09.04.10 J.D. Crowe Bluegrass Festival Wilmore, KY

Be sure to pick up the Grascal's latest release "The Famous Lefty Flynn's" now available in stores and online.  More information on the Grascals can be found at www.grascals.com

Hank Williams, Jr. Brings a Few Rowdy Friends to Louisville

Hank Williams, Jr - by Jessica Blankenship

Hank Williams, Jr. brought along a few of his rowdy friends to Louisville on Saturday night at Freedom Hall. Being the second stop of the tour, fans were taken on a journey of music that is influenced by Bocephus before his performance.

Bluegrass group, The Grascals, filled the arena with the sounds dear to Kentucky, the Bluegrass State. Their album, "The Famous Lefty Flynn's" was just released last Tuesday. The group collectively brought in the tight harmonies and instrumentation singing their bluegrass-country tunes. Their set list included their current single "Last Train to Clarksville." Prior to the show, the band performed for tailgaters in the parking lot as they were welcomed inside.

Eric Church brought in some more high energy with his hard country-rock influenced show. At times, it felt as though fans were sitting at a Metallica concert rather than a country one. However, Church showcased his hit singles easing through the set list giving little time for talk. Fans were rocking along with several songs in the hour set list that included "Pledge Allegiance to the Hag," "Smoke A Little Smoke," and "How 'Bout You".

When Jamey Johnson took the stage, it was a very stark difference than Eric Church's rock-fueled flashy performance. Johnson kept it simple by making it all about the music. Johnson is no stranger to Louisville, having recently performed at 4th Street Live last June and the Louisville Palace Theatre in November. Fans were treated with several selections off his new album, set to be released this summer, including "Back to Macon," "Can't Cash My Checks," and "Sweet Mental Revenge." However, Johnson relied heavily on newer material instead of falling back to the songs from his current album. He did not disappoint with the long southern vocals on "That Lonesome Song" and involving the crowd that sang note for note on "In Color" with a rousing response. Johnson concluded with "Give it Away," the tune co-written with Buddy Cannon and Bill Anderson that George Strait made famous.

Before Hank Williams, Jr. took to the stage, it was evident that he made a good decision of openers. Throughout his performance, he infused the bluegrass, country-rock, and honest to goodness stone-cold country into his set list. Opening the show with "My Name is Bocephus," Hank worked through the playlist of his career. Having many hits to sing in such a short amount of time, fans of particular songs were left out as he would sing a small selection before kicking it into another song. Being a man of many hats, Williams switched hats as much as he did song selections. He did showcase his instrumental talents by playing fiddle on "Kawliga", which ended in him throwing the fiddle almost a little too far. He also performed "Jambalaya" and "A Whole Lotta Shaking" on the piano emblazed with "Bocephus" on the side in gold lettering.

Just as the crowd was getting rowdy, Williams calmed things down by filling a large portion of the show with an acoustic set. The acoustic set included "Outlaw Women," "All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down," "Country Boy Can Survive," as well as covers of the Dukes of Hazard theme and Johnny Cash's "Walk the Line."

Fans got back to boogieing with "Born to Boogie" and "All My Rowdy Friends are Coming Over Tonight." Just as the party was getting started, it ended with "Family Tradition" as Hank was joined in by Eric Church, Jamey Johnson, and the Grascals. Being that Hank Williams, Jr. only does 20 shows a year, it was indeed an honor to have Kentucky to host one in Louisville. Fans can check out the Grascals and Hank Williams, Jr. in Pikeville on the Rowdy Friends Tour.