Hank Williams Jr. is a living legend for many reasons.
He is the son of the great Hank Williams, has had a long and successful career (and still turning out hits), has close to 60 honorable career awards and achievements, and can play almost any instrument he picks up.
When Bocephus was young, he started his music career playing bluegrass on a banjo. His teachers were none other than the great Earl Scruggs and Sonny Osborne, which he referred to as the greatest teachers in the world:
“Between Sonny Osborne and Earl Scruggs, I better know how to play banjo. I had the greatest teachers in the world.”
When Hank Jr. started his career, he covered many traditional songs that his dad had initially recorded. Hank Williams’ traditional country sound heavily influenced Hank Jr. early on.
Bocephus made his Opry debut at age 11 and sang his father “Lovesick Blues,” which left the crowd roaring with applause.
Nowadays, you will hardly see Hank Jr. playing banjo now that he has found his own sound, but after learning this fun fact, I went on a deep dive to find old videos.
Hank Williams Jr. made a few TV appearances in the ’60s playing “Foggy Mountain Breakdown.” And he is shredding it.
These roots of his musical timeline carry through in his day to day. Hank Jr. wears his guitar strap today how a banjo player wears it. He learned this trick in his early years because it makes it easy to swap instruments and keep his shoulders comfortable during long shows.
Now and again, he will pull out a classic bluegrass song at a show, keeping the ol’ bluegrass roots intact.
Hank Williams Jr. performing “Saw The Light” with The Grascals.
