Biography
Hank Williams III entered the world already steeped in country music nobility, descending directly from Hank Williams as his grandson and from Hank Jr. as his son, well before performing any songs himself. Instead of tracing his ancestors' musical path right away, he spent his early years drifting through the Southeast, drumming for punk and hardcore bands while consuming enormous quantities of cannabis prior to committing to country music. That defiant streak from his bloodline endured, intensified through his lifestyle, and cemented his standing as one of Nashville's foremost nonconformists, surpassing the precedent set by his family.
Shelton Hank Williams III entered life on December 12, 1972, in Nashville, Tennessee. Early on he embraced the existence of a wandering punk musician, yet a court ruling that required Hank to settle substantial overdue child support altered his course when the judge directed him toward steadier work. These obligations steered Hank III onto a conventional route, leading him to sign with the major Music City label Curb in 1996. The imprint put out Three Hanks: Men with Broken Hearts, uniting the voices of three Williams generations through contemporary recording methods. The project stood far removed from Hank III's own vision and marked the onset of his contentious dealings with Curb.
Williams found himself constrained. Although his surname, appearance, and striking vocal similarity to his grandfather virtually assured him a substantial country following, he held no tolerance for Nashville's conventionality or its strict oversight. Hank and his Damn Band could captivate audiences with precise renditions of heartfelt country ballads and lively honky-tonk numbers. At the same time III could pivot without hesitation to ferocious Black Flag-style punk with his hard-edged group Assjack. Such contradictions proved difficult for most labels to accommodate, given his strong commercial appeal alongside his willful unpredictability.
Curb released Hank III's first proper album in September 1999. Titled Risin' Outlaw, the record contained thirteen raw country tracks shaped by III's honky-tonk delivery. Although he fulfilled numerous country performances to promote it, Williams also joined the 2001 Vans Warped Tour alongside acts such as Rancid. The outspoken III quickly denounced Outlaw as a label-driven misstep shortly after its appearance. Following several years of road work and persistent efforts to exit his Curb agreement, III resurfaced in early 2002 with Lovesick, Broke & Driftin'. Whereas Outlaw had included outside compositions, the new album consisted entirely of Hank III material aside from one earlier cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City." He also handled production, recording, and mixing alone within a two-week span.
By then Hank III's ties with Curb had grown more fraught. The label declined to issue his aptly titled This Ain't Country LP, which included tracks such as "Life of Sin" and "Hellbilly," while simultaneously withholding permission for III to release it independently. The standoff persisted, worsened by the "F*** Curb" T-shirts III sold via his active website. Thrown Out of the Bar, his third honky-tonk collection, was slated for 2003 alongside the long-delayed This Ain't Country. In addition, Hank III distributed extremely limited pressings through his site, often capped at 100 copies or fewer, and maintained his role as bassist in Superjoint Ritual, the intense side project led by Pantera's Phil Anselmo.
The double-disc Straight to Hell appeared in March 2006 on Bruc Records, a Curb imprint created to obscure the label's involvement. Its opening disc presented tracks that twisted traditional country elements to suit Hank III's defiant outlook, while the second disc offered a single piece featuring only III on guitar amid ambient sounds and a minimal narrative suited to those recovering from substances. Remaining in outlaw mode, Hank III issued Damn Right, Rebel Proud in 2008. His fourth and purportedly last Curb album, The Rebel Within, arrived in spring 2010. In a decision that displeased III, Curb subsequently repackaged This Ain't Country—the frequently bootlegged source of the original conflict—adding further unreleased material and releasing it as Hillbilly Joker in 2011.
During fall 2011 Williams declared the formation of his own Hank3 Records imprint and inaugurated it with three simultaneous albums: the two-disc raw country set A Ghost to a Ghost/Guttertown; the doom metal recording Attention Deficit Domination; and Cattle Callin, issued under the name 3 Bar Ranch, which fused cattle-auctioneer vocals with speed metal. While III continued touring behind these releases, Curb extracted an eighth album from a lapsed six-album contract by issuing Long Gone Daddy, largely comprising outtakes from 1999's Risin' Outlaw and 2002's Lovesick, Broke & Driftin', in spring 2012. In October 2013 Hank III delivered another pair through his label: the two-disc country album Brothers of the 4X4 paired with the hardcore cowpunk release A Fiendish Threat.
Curb Records sustained the friction by releasing Ramblin' Man, a 27-minute collection of country-leaning tracks Hank III had recorded mainly for tribute albums, in spring 2014, followed a year later by the punk- and metal-oriented Take as Needed for Pain under the Bruc name, assembled similarly from tribute contributions and studio remnants. As with prior post-contract releases, Hank III urged fans via his website and social channels to avoid purchasing them and instead to burn borrowed copies. Further drawing from Williams' catalog, Curb put out a Hank III Greatest Hits compilation in September 2017.
Shelton Hank Williams III entered life on December 12, 1972, in Nashville, Tennessee. Early on he embraced the existence of a wandering punk musician, yet a court ruling that required Hank to settle substantial overdue child support altered his course when the judge directed him toward steadier work. These obligations steered Hank III onto a conventional route, leading him to sign with the major Music City label Curb in 1996. The imprint put out Three Hanks: Men with Broken Hearts, uniting the voices of three Williams generations through contemporary recording methods. The project stood far removed from Hank III's own vision and marked the onset of his contentious dealings with Curb.
Williams found himself constrained. Although his surname, appearance, and striking vocal similarity to his grandfather virtually assured him a substantial country following, he held no tolerance for Nashville's conventionality or its strict oversight. Hank and his Damn Band could captivate audiences with precise renditions of heartfelt country ballads and lively honky-tonk numbers. At the same time III could pivot without hesitation to ferocious Black Flag-style punk with his hard-edged group Assjack. Such contradictions proved difficult for most labels to accommodate, given his strong commercial appeal alongside his willful unpredictability.
Curb released Hank III's first proper album in September 1999. Titled Risin' Outlaw, the record contained thirteen raw country tracks shaped by III's honky-tonk delivery. Although he fulfilled numerous country performances to promote it, Williams also joined the 2001 Vans Warped Tour alongside acts such as Rancid. The outspoken III quickly denounced Outlaw as a label-driven misstep shortly after its appearance. Following several years of road work and persistent efforts to exit his Curb agreement, III resurfaced in early 2002 with Lovesick, Broke & Driftin'. Whereas Outlaw had included outside compositions, the new album consisted entirely of Hank III material aside from one earlier cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City." He also handled production, recording, and mixing alone within a two-week span.
By then Hank III's ties with Curb had grown more fraught. The label declined to issue his aptly titled This Ain't Country LP, which included tracks such as "Life of Sin" and "Hellbilly," while simultaneously withholding permission for III to release it independently. The standoff persisted, worsened by the "F*** Curb" T-shirts III sold via his active website. Thrown Out of the Bar, his third honky-tonk collection, was slated for 2003 alongside the long-delayed This Ain't Country. In addition, Hank III distributed extremely limited pressings through his site, often capped at 100 copies or fewer, and maintained his role as bassist in Superjoint Ritual, the intense side project led by Pantera's Phil Anselmo.
The double-disc Straight to Hell appeared in March 2006 on Bruc Records, a Curb imprint created to obscure the label's involvement. Its opening disc presented tracks that twisted traditional country elements to suit Hank III's defiant outlook, while the second disc offered a single piece featuring only III on guitar amid ambient sounds and a minimal narrative suited to those recovering from substances. Remaining in outlaw mode, Hank III issued Damn Right, Rebel Proud in 2008. His fourth and purportedly last Curb album, The Rebel Within, arrived in spring 2010. In a decision that displeased III, Curb subsequently repackaged This Ain't Country—the frequently bootlegged source of the original conflict—adding further unreleased material and releasing it as Hillbilly Joker in 2011.
During fall 2011 Williams declared the formation of his own Hank3 Records imprint and inaugurated it with three simultaneous albums: the two-disc raw country set A Ghost to a Ghost/Guttertown; the doom metal recording Attention Deficit Domination; and Cattle Callin, issued under the name 3 Bar Ranch, which fused cattle-auctioneer vocals with speed metal. While III continued touring behind these releases, Curb extracted an eighth album from a lapsed six-album contract by issuing Long Gone Daddy, largely comprising outtakes from 1999's Risin' Outlaw and 2002's Lovesick, Broke & Driftin', in spring 2012. In October 2013 Hank III delivered another pair through his label: the two-disc country album Brothers of the 4X4 paired with the hardcore cowpunk release A Fiendish Threat.
Curb Records sustained the friction by releasing Ramblin' Man, a 27-minute collection of country-leaning tracks Hank III had recorded mainly for tribute albums, in spring 2014, followed a year later by the punk- and metal-oriented Take as Needed for Pain under the Bruc name, assembled similarly from tribute contributions and studio remnants. As with prior post-contract releases, Hank III urged fans via his website and social channels to avoid purchasing them and instead to burn borrowed copies. Further drawing from Williams' catalog, Curb put out a Hank III Greatest Hits compilation in September 2017.
Albums
