Would you buy a CD just because the singer is the grandson of a legend? Do you think that's what I did? Well, yes, I might not have picked up this album if not for Hank Williams' name on the cover. Because apart from the music, there's also a nice story tied to this album. You see, his dad, Hank Jr., had started out by copying Hank Sr.'s style as a surefire road to success, only developing his own personal style later in his career. But Hank 3 was the complete opposite: he started by playing in punk and metal bands, collaborating with members of bands like Pantera and Eyehategod. Then, when he was still in his early 20s, he was informed that some time ago he had fathered a son, and was now due to pay child support. Playing live drums in underground punk and metal bands wasn't going to cut it, so he decided to capitalize on his name and knock on the door of the country music industry. He wouldn't even have to sing: put a cowboy hat on his head, and he's the spitting image of his legendary grandfather—enough to give any true country music fan the chills. Nashville's Curb Records signed him on the spot. But Hank 3 didn't sell out; instead, he came up with his own idiosyncratic brand of outlaw country with a punk-rock attitude. But the 15 years he spent recording for Curb Records meant a constant struggle between the artist trying to defend his vision and the label trying to rein in his anti-conformist attitude. When he finally freed himself from his contract, his creativity was unleashed: he put out four albums simultaneously, each in a different style. Two of them were bundled together as Ghost to a Ghost/Gutter Town. Ghost To A Ghost is the more “mainstream” of the two, a rock-infused outlaw country affair built around standard country instrumentation, with banjo and fiddle up front. Its lyrics revel in hard livin’ — drinkin’ whiskey, shooting guns, drivin’ trucks, chasing casual sex, the whole mythology. At times, he even sounds like ol’ Hank Sr., though I can’t picture Senior singing “I’m lookin’ all around / tryin’ to find me a girl / Who wants-to-fuck!” (“Don’t Ya Wanna”). Then again, I can’t imagine any country fan remaining indifferent to this infectious tune, with its party fiddle, accordion, and Southern rock guitar solos. "Gutter Town" and “Outlaw Convention” are similarly upbeat classic country, while “Day By Day” gallops along with a Southern rock feel. “Ridin’ The Wave,” meanwhile, hurtles toward metal and punk territory, albeit with banjo and other traditional country instruments in tow. “Ray Lawrence Jr.,” featuring the eponymous singer, strips things back to rough-hewn acoustic country, before two haunted ballads, “The Devils Movin’ In” and “Time To Die,” the latter featuring mournful violin. Perhaps sensing that things are getting too serious, he follows up with “Troopers Hollar,” a raucous number featuring his dog Trooper hollering on lead vocals. “Cunt Of A Bitch” is a questionable affair mixing punk, country, and hip-hop, but the album saves its best for last. The title track, “Ghost To A Ghost,” pairs cinematic strings with a tango-like rhythm and Tom Waits’ unmistakable growl. Even Trooper’s barks blend into the arrangement, helping shape a highly idiosyncratic, dramatic near-masterpiece. The second CD, Gutter Town, is by far the more experimental of the two, with several tracks peppered with sound effects, from croaking frogs and howlin’ dogs to out-of-tune organs and other assorted noises, like the soundtrack of a horror movie set in the Deep South. There are rewards to be found amid the chaos, though: a handful of boisterous zydeco numbers give Hank 3 a chance to try his hand at Cajun French (“Gutter Stomp,” “Musha’s,” “Dyin’ Day”), while a trio of raw, underproduced country tunes (“I Promised,” “Move Them Songs,” “I’ll Be Gone”) offer a more traditional counterpoint. There’s also a bizarre sea shanty featuring Les Claypool of Primus ("With The Ship"). Once again, the highlight is a Tom Waits collaboration: “Fadin’ Moon” is a Louisiana-inspired number whose earthy instrumentation and theatrical fiddle lend it a wonderfully offbeat character. All in all, Ghost To A Ghost/Gutter Town finds Hank 3 at his most uninhibited. The first disc delivers his trademark Hellbilly sound in all its glory, pitting honky-tonk and outlaw country against metal-inflected aggression. It's hardly commercial fare, but fans of outlaw country and alternative rock should find plenty to enjoy, even if traditionalists who worship at the altar of his legendary grandfather are likely to recoil. Gutter Town, meanwhile, ventures into territory no country label would have allowed him to explore, wandering through the shadowy, swamp-soaked corners of his musical imagination. It would probably have been too weird to enjoy on its own, but paired with the more accessible first disc, it completes a gloriously unruly portrait of an artist who was never going to fit anyone else's idea of country music.
**** for Gutter Town, Day By Day, Ridin' The Wave, Don't Ya Wanna, Time To Die, The Devils Movin' In, Outlaw Convention, Ghost To A Ghost
*** for Ray Lawrence Jr. Cunt Of A Bitch, Gutter Stomp, Musha's, Dyin Day, I'll Be Gone, Fadin' Moon
** for Troopers Hollar, The Dirt Road, I Promised, Chord Of The Organ, Move Them Songs, The Low Line, Thunderpain, I'll Save My Tears, With The Ship
* for Goin To Gutter Town, The Dream Of Before, Troopers Chaos, Chaos Queen, The Round, It's Goin Down
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