Big Shot Concerts spoke to Hank 3, the King of Hellbilly, about road casualties, new records, technology, family legacy, being a country rebel, struggles with record labels and his concert at the Culture Room in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida on July 27, 2014.
Read excerpts from Hank 3’s conversation with Big Shot Concerts below or listen to the full interview now.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: This is Larry Poccia with Big Shot Concerts and I’m here with the king of Hellbilly and, in my opinion, country music’s last man standing, Hank3. How’s it going man?
HANK3: Doing good, just getting ready to do it all over again and see what’s working and see what’s not man. Got a couple of new guys in on this run — some guys that were with me almost ten years ago so it’s gonna be good seeing them, getting them back in the band and blowing off the dust and seeing how much better they’ve become over the years. Looking forward to it.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: Which guys are back in the fold?
HANK 3: You got Dan Johnson who’s a steel player that stepped up for me, and my main other steel player Andy Gibson, he had almost a ten year run with me and he was just needin’ a break from it man, so we’re looking forward to see what Dan is going to be bringing to the table and, once again having more of a behind-the-scenes guy, ya know, I consider my crew guys just as much of a member of the band than the people you see onstage, so one of the unsung heroes will be back there working on the sound and helping us to take it to the next level.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: On that topic, you’ve worked with a lot of different players over the years. Is that a conscious decision to mix things up, or is it based on availability?
HANK 3: Basically it’s a motto that I have, and my motto is, when you’re not having fun with the gig anymore just let me know, and that’s pretty much it. Everyone knows how the road can take a toll on you, it’s not cut out for everybody, and then after a certain amount of time, ya know, some people just lose the fire and need a break from it. And I always keep an open policy, ya know, if you tap out and need a break, in a few years give me a shout, just like with Dan. It’s been ten years, he’s still been playing, he considers himself a better player now than when he was with me at first, so I always try to keep it open as much as possible, ’cause I do go through a lot of guys. A lot of people get the misconception that “Aw, it’s Hank3! It’s just gonna be a 24/7 party!” but when you get out there man, ya know, we’re pulling some 15 hour days with the one o’clock load in, and then by the time we have the trailer all wrapped up and loaded it’s usually 2 a.m., so it’s a grind. With the 4½ hour shows that we’re doing for right now. I won’t be doing those forever, but I’m taking it over the top while I can.
ROAD CASUALTIES
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: Talking about the toll on the other guys, how about yourself? Have you had moments where you’ve said “Wow, I’ve got to take a little time off.”
HANK 3: Well, of course. I mean, I know about how long my voice and body will last. Unfortunately as age is approaching, I’m having a couple of injuries that are starting to affect my performance. Right now I’m just ignoring it and just fighting through it so I’m doing what I can to keep the arm and the hand moving as much as possible, but it goes back to I’m taking it full throttle, I’m taking it over-the-top while I can. I do have official injuries and it takes a toll out there, so right now it is what it is. I’m 41. If I’m 46 I don’t know if I’ll be able to play as many styles as I’m doing and, uh, ya know, it’s scary. When you’re dealing with any injury and it starts to affect your performance, if you’re a player or an athlete, you get kind of tripped out by it. So right now I’m just ignoring it and taking if full throttle and we’ll see what happens, ’cause the last tour is the very first time it showed itself to me, and that’s just unfortunately part of getting old, and muscles not rebuilding themselves quite like they used to, but right now I’m still going to act like I’m 17 everyday.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: Were you injured onstage, or was it something that happened outside of performing, or do you even know?
HANK 3: It’s a little bit of both. One of them is definitely, ya know, 20 years of head-banging is gonna take a toll, especially if you look at some of the stuff I was doing in Superjoint Ritual (metal band formed by Pantera’s Phil Anselmo with EyeHateGod’s Joe Fazzio and Jimmy Bower that Hank played bass for from 2002 to 2004),and all of that. My newest injury that’s concerning me mostly, I haven’t done anything that I know except playing hard. If you look at the kind of rhythm that I play on the acoustic guitar, there’s a lot of arm movement. It’s not like I’m just using my pick hand. It’s a full strumming motion, and a lot of my songs are pretty upbeat, it’s a pretty fast kind of gallop, and I think just over the years of doing that style I’m just having a pretty intense burning sensation on top of lifting all the gear. My right arm is my dominant arm, ya know, that’s the arm I use to shake everybody’s hand at the end of the night. Ya know, most people are all pumped up and trying to rip my arm off — “Dude! What’s going on! Thanks for hanging out!”, and all that fun stuff.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: Well, I’ve seen you live twice before, and I know the crowd and it’s usually the most jammed I ever see the Culture Room down here (in Fort Lauderdale), and the most frantic, punk rock crowd.
HANK 3: Yeah, no doubt. The other injury was definitely, I’ve got a couple of pins in my hand and I try to do the ultimate grip when I shake everybody’s hand. There’s a move you can do where no matter how hard someone squeezes your hand they can’t break it. It just feels like a couple of those pins that are in my hand are just starting to move around a little bit. But that is what it is man, it’s not holding me back. The vocals chords have been checked. I went into the Vanderbilt voice center right when I got back. There was strep throat going around on the last tour, the upper respiratory infection on the east coast run, so we’re all good man. Gonna fight through it, gonna be taking it to the next level, and we’ve got a good crew behind us.
THE NEW RECORDS
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: Well, let’s talk about some cool stuff besides your injuries. You’ve got two new releases out, let’s start with your country record. I’ve been listening to “Brothers of the 4×4”, cool stuff man. Tell us a little something about the record.
HANK 3: Well I always do my best to stay true to the roots and the sound of country music, at least on 70% of the record has a lot of the roots of country to me. It’s always important to have the banjo, the fiddle, the steel guitar, the stand-up bass, acoustic guitar and mandolin throughout the songs, compared to today’s pop country which is mostly just, ya know, pop rock oriented music.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: Pop music in cowboy hats.
HANK3: No doubt, man. Ya know, I think there’s quite a bit of different sounds on the new record. You’ve got some of the fast songs, you’ve got some of the slow, depressing deep songs like “Loners 4 Life” or “Deep Scars”. A couple of the happy-go-lucky songs, like “Nearly Gone” or “Dread Full Drive”, which is kind of different, and then some of the old-school songs, like “Possum In A Tree” that was wrote for (old-time clawhammer style banjo player) Leroy Troy. “Gettin Dim” is a little more, it has a kind of a folky sound to it, and it was the first time that I ever played mandolin on a track, and on “Possum In A Tree” it was the first time for me trying lap steel guitar. A lot of hard work went into it. Out of, I think, over 24 songs there was only about 15 minutes of editing, so that just shows how much the players stood up to the plate, tried to make it right, tried to do it correctly on one pass. It might have taken 25 takes to get that one pass, but the guys, compared to the way most people record nowadays, they’ll record 20 takes and then copy and paste.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: Yeah, I’ve talked to engineers who do that, who are proud of doing that, and I think “What, are you crazy? Why would you do that?”
HANK 3: Yeah, so anybody that records with me knows that my approach in recording is a little more the way it used to be, and sometimes, ya know, it’s just a little more work, but both of the records came very quick. It wasn’t like I was pulling teeth to get the songs out of me. It seems like they came natural and, ya know, whipped out both records, very hands on. Engineered it, mixed it, mastered it, recorded all the players with the “Brothers Of The 4X4” and “A Fiendish Threat”, it was done within five months. Ya know I couldn’t hardly get out of bed for two months when it was all said and done, but once I start a process I don’t like to leave it unfinished or I’m scared it’ll never get finished.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: And I heard on the song “The Outdoor Plan”, you’ve got some Mexican-style horns on there?
HANK 3: Yeah, that was a friend of mine, that’s one of the few co-writes on the record. That song definitely, it has that feel of it. My dad’s old manager (Merle Kilgore) wrote “Ring Of Fire”, the Johnny Cash thing. And knowing Marty Stuart (who played in Johnny Cash’s backing band from 1980 to 1985 before going solo) and everything, it was kind of meant to be, to just throw that in there. And it’s got more of a current kind of bounce to it. There’s a band called John Wayne, and it’s got a little kind of John Wayne influence off in there as well, on being just a little, uh, not being super serious.
:BIG SHOT CONCERTS: And your other release right now is “A Fiendish Threat” which is more of the punk record.
HANK 3: Yeah, it’s a throwback record in my opinion, paying homage to a lot of my heroes that inspired me and gave me a lot of inspiration when I was younger and doing that kind of style on acoustic instruments I think is what made that record just stand out and be a little different. Ya know, I definitely made it a pretty raw sounding record, ’cause that’s part of it. You just can’t make it sound too clean.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: Sure, the thing with it too that stood out was that you played it on acoustic instruments. Ya know, so you’ve got this raw, lo-fi, garage punk record that’s acoustic stuff …
HANK3: Correct, and most of those songs were done where I’m singing and playing the acoustic guitar. Like, when I laid the foundation — I have to stack all my records. It’s not like I get to record everybody at the same time, so on that record it’s me and just my guitar and I’m playing and singing trying to nail the good vocal and trying to keep a solid rhythm. And some of those songs are burners as far as going back to the rhythm. If you look at a song like “Broke Jaw”, ya know, it’s a pretty smoking song as far as the way that I play, so it was a challenge man, nailing some of those songs like that. And then, or course, it’s always awesome going back and sitting and playing the drums and feeling the creativity that comes when you’re making a new record. So, it was a lot of respects to, I wanted people to definitely think of Misfits and Minor Threat. There’s a little Jane’s Addiction, there’s a little Violent Femmes, a little bit of Ramones, a little bit of … could be some Iggy Pop off in there. All kinds of different sounds.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: And I love the Hawaiian thing you had going on in “New Identity” and I think there’s a little bit in “Broke Jaw” as well.
HANK3: Yeah, I call it the tiki steel guitar, ’cause there’s a lot of skaters and a lot of surfers that listen to my stuff man, and I think that sound with the lap steel just kind of creates a little bit of that island ambiance when they’re out there surfing or skating.
PUNK OR COUNTRY?
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: Do you intentionally set out to write a country song or a punk song, or do you just let the idea flow and decide what genre later to perform them as?
HANK 3: I usually start off with a certain project because the writing styles are different. Or I have to concentrate on each instrument for a while, so I’ll be locked in on playing guitar and singing just for three or four weeks just to get all the foundation done. And I might warm up in the morning with slower stuff and working on maybe a country song in the daytime and then if I feel light and fast, then I might work on some of the Fiendish Threat in the evening, but usually it’s instrument by instrument, so three or four weeks for the guitar and vocal, sometimes it can take a couple of weeks to get the rhythm tight on the drums, a lot of takes to just get it nailed down, but I usually start off getting the majority of the country stuff done first before I move on to the next project. And I won’t be able to keep juggling two projects at the same time. As I’m getting older I’ll probably have to do just one record at a time, but for now I’ve just been trying a different approach in the music business, and that’s the main reason I’ve been doing the multiple releases.
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO HEAR AT THE SHOW?
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: The last couple of times I’ve seen you you’ve done a country set and an Assjack set. On this tour are you performing a strictly Fiendish Threat set, or is it going to be a mix of stuff?
HANK 3: Yeah, we go off into the Fiendish Threat for about 25-30 minutes. It kind of depends on the voice and how my drummer’s doing, ‘cause my drummer, he’s doing like four different jobs if you really look at it. He’s doing sound and monitors, helping, ya know, stage manage and doing drums as well.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: Are you swapping bands for the two sets, your country band and your Fiendish Threat band?
HANK 3: It’s basically just swapping the drummer, and me and David Mac and the bass player are doing the Fiendish Threat stuff. We usually do about an hour and a half to two hours of the country music, maybe four songs of the hellbilly sound, then we go off into the Fiendish Threat, then the movie comes on and we do the doom sound, some of the Attention Deficit Domination and at the end of the night is when we do the 3 Bar Ranch, which is the cattle calling, some of the power metal.
STRUGGLES WITH CURB RECORDS
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: It’s no secret you were very unhappy with your old records label Curb, you had your “Fuck Curb” T-shirts at shows and everything, and you’ve been vocal about being unhappy with the compromises on your first record, but even underneath the Curb label you did start to push the envelope. By the second record you were writing “Trashville” and then of course “Straight to Hell” came out under that. Were those things achieved in spite of Curb, was it always a battle to get that stuff done?
HANK 3: Well, the main thing is I was just giving them something different and unique and sure enough, I mean if you’re going to work with, it doesn’t matter what job you do, if you’re going to work with a company that doesn’t respect you or want you, and totally is not behind you, there’s gonna be problems. I was hands on with “Risin’ Outlaw”, but every record after “Risin’ Outlaw” I basically was in the studio, picking out the guys that I wanted to work on it, to make sure I was there throughout all of the songs, recorded my friend’s songs, tried to get my songs on there, and then I would just turn it in at the end of the day and they would tell me what they have problems with or what they don’t and I would let the lawyers kind of hash it out. So a lot of those kind of shirts, the reason they came about is ‘cause they cost me so much work. I had so many of my heroes that wanted me to be involved in projects and I was turned down, I couldn’t be involved in so much stuff. And sure enough, they wait ‘til I’m gone to really push me. It is what it is. It doesn’t matter if it’s an underdog like myself, or someone like Tim McGraw who’s made ‘em more than a billion dollars, the same problems are there with a lot of the artists that they work with. But, like I said, I would make my records the way I wanted to make ‘em, I would turn it in and then see what the problems were and then we would hash it out with the lawyers, and I did my time and I was glad to be free and to be able to be creative and to do my thing.
WAS THE COUNTRY REBEL ALWAYS THERE?
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: I saw a video clip of a very young fresh-faced Hank3 onstage at the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman when you were promoting your first record. At that point in time what was going on in your head? Were you still optimistic and untainted, or was the rebel already brewing under the surface at that time?
HANK 3: Well I had been doing super rebel stuff because I was touring the tri-state area and many various punk rock bands, metal bands, alternative bands, so I was already doing my thing but as far as giving into the country music I specifically went to Branson, Missouri to just work on my chops and I said folks, ya know, I’m only gonna be doing this Hank Sr. thing for about a month or two. I’m just working on getting used to singing and not screaming and trying to get the feel of acoustic instruments, and my family had history out of Branson, or out of Missouri in general so I went there at first and did the Hank Williams tribute show. At the end I would sing a couple of my songs. When I came back that’s when I still had a little bit of the Hank Williams getup on and went up on the Grand Ole Opry with a little more of that look and sound for the first time. And then the last time I played the Opry, ya know, it was more my Misfits shirt, my vest, talking about maybe one day he could be brought back into the circle of the mother church country music as far as respects go, so at least I got to do a little bit of both styles on that stage of my career.
REINSTATING HANK SR. TO THE GRAND OLE OPRY
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: And speaking of the Grand Ole Opry, any progress on reinstating your grandfather (Hank Sr. was dismissed from the Grand Ole Opry in 1952), or is that just a dead issue?
HANK 3: No, it’s one of those things. We just keep talking about it because that’s all we can do, talk about it and sign the petition and in time all it takes is someone to get fired and someone to be rehired and a person that wants to change things, and it’s as simple as that.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: It sounds a lot like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
HANK 3: In a way, but I will say the Country Music Hall of Fame has always been very respectful, understanding and get what I do, they let me come down and play shows. They’ve been very open to my career and, ya know, it’s not like I’m asking for a big $90,000 statue, is what I say all the time. I’m asking just for a ceremony while there’s a couple of people that’s still alive that might’ve worked with Hank and just have a night where you’re singing Hank Williams home and just paying a little bit of respect, and that’s about it. Tom Waits called it out the best way you could on the 200th edition of Mojo magazine, he put it all together and right now it’s just talking about it, keeping the fire alive, and you never know what will be around the corner.
DECISION TO PLAY COUNTRY
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: Music used to be regional before mass media, like with your grandfather and say Sinatra, who were coming up at the same time in the 30s. They were from different parts of the country, so there was a natural cultural separation then, but by our generation we had MTV and we’re all watching the same stuff and listening to the same stuff. So as you were growing up, was it apparent that you would play country or could you just as easily been in a rock band? I know you’re influences are all over the map.
HANK 3: Well, my plan was to rock out as hard as I could while I was young, and then kind of grow older with my country fans, but that kind of got reversed on me when I had to step up to the plate and not be a deadbeat dad for my son. I mean, I’ve always been very open on saying, ya know, I had a one night stand that waited three years to tell me that I had a kid. Her father was a police officer and they served me papers onstage when I was opening up for a band called Buzzoven, and just went about it in a very rude way, and I had a judge tell me “playing music ain’t no real job” and I was like “well, yes, playing music is a real job, and I’ll prove it to ya”. So I just had the role reversed on me. I had to get out there and start doing some of the country circuit to take care of my kid and to pay this overwhelming amount that they hit me with. I had to get into country to be able to get back into the rock ‘n’ roll clubs. And it worked out all for the better. It helped me get my niche, find my sound, stand on my own two feet and get my own kind of unique crowd. Most people start off a little green in the business. It takes some time just to find out what you’re doing and what you’re going for. It was intense for a little while. Now that people know what to expect when they come to a Hank3 show, and I do my best to keep my fans protected and to keep ‘em in certain bars, or in the right environment, so everyone’s not getting beat down too hard, ‘cause it’s a very energetic, rowdy crowd most of the time. In time, if I do play certain, more family shows, I try to let the press or the club owners know if I’m doing a family show, please say this is gonna be a laid back kind of country evening and a family show. It’s not gonna be the full on mosh pit. It just depends, it’s all over the place. But I was always a drummer. I thought I was gonna just be a drummer my whole life, and when I was younger the front man of a band quit and that’s when I was asked to start being a front and screaming and playing bass and doing vocals at the same time, and just went on from instrument to instrument. But the first time I was onstage playing drums I was ten years old onstage with Hank Jr. playing “Family Traditions”, so I started at a pretty young age.
HANK 3 ON BEING THE GRANDSON/SON OF SOMEONE FAMOUS
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: With a lot of people their family legacy becomes something that puts them in the shadow, but I’ve gotta say, I think that you’ve managed to successfully establish your own personality, especially considering the huge family legacy that you have. Even though you’ve got the name, I don’t think it overshadows you at all.
HANK 3: A lot of that goes back to the hard work ethic and not taking what I call the easy road. I always took kind of the having to work extra hard, having to take it the extra mile. I don’t think I would have the respect that I have from the fans or a lot of my peers in the music business if I would’ve just took the cookie cutter route. I’ve paid my dues, I’ve hung in there, I’ve stood on my own two feet, and I’ve stayed true to my vision of being an artist and doing my thing and it is tough. Dweezil Zappa or Dale Earnhardt, Jr., any of those folks, it’s tough when you’re up against a family member that’s that big.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: The current issue of Mojo, Sean Lennon’s in there and he says being the child of someone famous builds this almost automatic hatred from the public to you, like they feel like you’re undeserving of the attention you’re getting.
HANK 3: Yes, it is tricky, for sure and a lot of people assume. A lot of people hear my name and are very quick to assume, and that’s fine, ya know, that’s all good. I like being the rebel, or the underdog. Most people would assume that I’m that guy that’s just stinking rich and inherited all this money, and riding the coattails, but in reality I’m not part of the Hank Williams estate. I don’t see any of that money, and I’ve gone the extra mile just to keep it on the road. I’ve had to file bankruptcy to keep the bus going. All kinds of stuff, for the dedication to what I do out there. It is what it is, it goes back to having an open-minded fan base and I’m very glad that (even though) they might not understand everything that I do, but that’s why I show my respect and I say O.K., the first two hours you might like, the second two hours you might hate but you have the option to take off. I try to keep the longest show for the cheapest ticket price out there, as far as a national act goes as well. I do a lot to keep the fans in mind.
INDEPENDENCE VS. MAJOR LABEL
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: You’ve been free of the shackles of the big label, so now the independence obviously gives you the freedom, and your output has increased because of that, and you’re able to not be second guessed on everything, but of course now you carry the responsibilities. Do you still find that to be a way better situation, having the full responsibility but without the leash?
HANK3: Well, for right now, as long as it doesn’t hurt my creativity and I’m able to keep the ball rolling, I’m fine with it. A lot of people have said that there’s just no room for creativity on certain major labels anymore, and I can understand that. When I hear some people complain or I hear a lot of engineers complaining about it, it’s a weird situation. I don’t have a manager, it’s pretty much all in house, but that also goes back to I have a lot of hope for the music business and with that hope you never can tell. It just takes one song to change everything, and there’s still a lot of people out there that have no clue who I am, or what I do and at this part in my life I’m trying to hold on to doing it this way. It’s been working good for me, and it’s hard to say where it’ll be when I’m 50 years old, if I’ll be able to keep hanging in there with it, but for right now that was the advice that Henry Rollins gave me. You’ve got your fan base, you know your sound, you’re very hands on, you’ve got a good work ethic, all you need is distribution, and I’ve always kept that advice really close to me and it’s been working.
TECHNOLOGY’S EFFECT ON MUSIC
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: I think nowadays technology, some people complain about it saying “oh, it’s killing the music industry” but it’s put the power in people’s hands. You can record an album that doesn’t cost a million dollars now, you can make a video if you need one, or whatever promotional materials. Is that you’re outlook as you’re doing these things yourself? Are you happy with technology, being able to put stuff in your hands?
HANK 3: I’ve always been bootlegger friendly because, the way I looked at it is, it never hurt the Grateful Dead. They were always bootlegger friendly and always had an amazing fan base. If something happened to me tomorrow, at least a lot of my years have been documented and recorded and will hopefully be set in stone, so that’s the way that I look at it. I’ve always (had) an open policy with cameras, videos, pictures and I think in time that’s just gone around and helped my fan base be a lot more loyal to me. And I’ve got friends that totally just disagree with it and don’t like that aspect that are in the music business, so it just depends on the person. But for country music it’s very personal, and it’s like, you do your show, you say hello, and you be good to your fans and that’s kind of the outlook I’ve always had.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: Well, it’s funny, I feel like people are always afraid of the next piece of technology. I found an old ad campaign from the 20s when the talkies first came in and it was the beginning of recorded music and musicians at the time made their living by performing live. Suddenly these people were out of work, so there were all these protests saying “recorded music is killing the music industry!” and now everyone’s going “Hey! Now you’re taking away (profits from) recordings, THAT’S killing the music industry!” Well, it’s always going to be something different, ya know?
HANK 3: Absolutely. It is what it is. Most big music nowadays is on a computer and someone out there lip-synching. It’s just weird how it works. But I do hear a lot of people say when we come into their club “Oh, wow! Check it out! It’s a real band tonight! With real instruments and are setting up their own gear and doing all their grunt work!” We get a lot of respect from the crews out there that see a lot of shows that come through. Everything changes, but some things, ya know, if you look at Gary Numan’s aspect, he’s always interested in new technology with keyboards and lights and kind of the different things, but he keeps it real onstage, so he’s a good person to look at who’s someone that uses a lot of technology, but doesn’t just go out there and dance.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: Like when Big Audio Dynamite were doing a lot of samples. But their samples were like audio collage. It wasn’t just “I drew a moustache on the Mona Lisa”, they actually put stuff together and it was like “Wow, that took some effort” and it’s also Mick Jones from The Clash, I mean, the guy can really play. It’s definitely putting the technology to use and creating something instead of just depending on the technology.
HANK 3: Absolutely. And one of the kings of pulling it all together is Mike Patton and what he’s done with Mr. Bungle and Fantômas and all that stuff, making sure all those samples happen at the same time and patching ‘em all live and everything. It’s pretty intense man. Hat’s off to all the people that do their thing. I myself, for now, am in a pretty simple band. I don’t get to carry a lighting guy. We do all our stuff on our own. It’s a pretty straight up show. I just go through a lot of genres of music. I don’t have a million and one rock moves like David Lee Roth might have. One day if I had a technical issue, like if my guitar goes down and I have to be a front man, yeah, I’d go there and do some of those things to get a rile out of the audience, but if I was a full on front man all these years, I would a lot more injuries, that’s for sure!
HANK 3 SHOW DETAILS
HANK 3: The last thing I always tell everybody is that there’s no opening band. If it says we’re on at 8:30 or 8 o’clock that means we’ll be playing music around then so be on time especially if it’s a weeknight. And if anyone wants to collect vinyl records, I always tell ‘em Hank3.com is the best place to get ‘em.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: Sounds good man. I’m looking forward to seeing ya next week (Sunday, July 27th at the Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale, FL). We’ll be there. Keith Johnson, our photographer, will be there shooting ya, and I’ll be there hanging out just getting drunk and enjoying the show.
HANK 3: Alright man, awesome.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS: Take care man.
HANK3: See ya soon.
When Larry Poccia isn’t getting drunk and breaking shit at Hank3 shows, he sings and plays guitar for The No.13s.
BIG SHOT CONCERTS INTERVIEW: HANK WILLIAMS III
Interview by Larry Poccia of The No. 13s
Photography by Keith Johnson of Big Shot Concerts
He’s about as bad ass as they come!
An American icon!