Bocephus sings the Blues.
Of course, a new album announcement might seem a bit strange just days after your wife of 31 years passes away, and Williams thought about pushing to back, however the Williams family came to conclusion that, “music offers solace in the most difficult times.”
And with that being said, Hank Williams Jr. has officially announced his next album, Rich White Honky Blues, and for this upcoming project, Hank is strippin’ it down and taking it all the way back to his roots.
A bluesman at heart, Hank Jr.’s father Hank Williams Sr. was taught to play guitar as a small child by a bluesman named Rufus “Tee-Tot” Payne, and with producer Dan Auerbach at the helm, Hank will pay homage to his roots, recording classics from Robert Johnson, Lightnin’ Hopkins, R.L. Burnside, Muddy Waters, Big Joe Turner, as well as a few from Hank himself.
“The blues is where it all comes from. It’s the start of everything musical in my family; everything starts with Tee-Tot and flows from there.
I’ve always flirted with this stripped back blues, all the way back to the ‘80s. But I finally made an album that’s just that, and I like it.”
Williams and Auerbach started discussing how it would all come together, but on the first day of recording, Hank wasn’t in the mood as Auerbach recalls:
“First thing he said to me when he walked in was, ‘I don’t really feel like fucking with this shit!’ And he walked into another room.”
But when the expert group of players started jamming out, Hank came back in, and they threw the whole project down in just three days:
“If you wanted to play this kind of music, you couldn’t have better players.
The first time I ever saw Hank Jr. on TV, I was a kid raised on Robert Johnson and Hank Williams, Sr. records, and those things came through so clearly watching him.
So, I tried to assemble the right parts to just sit in that piece of who he is.”
When the three days were over, Hank said:
“I hope you got all of that. I bet YOU did. I’m going to listen and smoke…”
And here we are… Hank Williams Jr.’s upcoming blues record, Rich White Honky Blues is set for release on June 17th.
Hank introduces the project with his “.44 Special Blues”
Rich White Honky Blues Tracklist:
1. .44 Special Blues
2. Georgia Women
3. My Starter Won’t Start
4. Take Out Some Insurance
5. Rich White Honky Blues
6. Short Haired Woman
7. Fireman Ring the Bell
8. Rock Me Baby
9. I Like It When It’s Stormy
10. Call Me Thunderhead
11. TV Mama
12. Jesus Will You Come By Here
