''Hillbilly Joker'' is an unauthorized release of recordings by

Hank Williams III Shelton Hank Williams (born December 12, 1972), known as Hank Williams III, is an American musician, singer and multi-instrumentalist, known for his unique fusion of traditional country music, rockabilly, heavy metal and punk rock. He was the ...

, released on May 17, 2011. The album marks a departure from Williams' previous

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

albums, instead featuring a

cowpunk Cowpunk (or country punk) is a subgenre of punk rock that began in the United Kingdom and Southern California in the late 1970s - early 1980s. It combines punk rock or new wave with country, folk, and blues in its sound, lyrical subject matte ...

sound which incorporates elements of

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blu ...

, heavy metal and

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier p ...

. The album was originally recorded and planned to be released in 2003 under the title ''This Ain't Country'', but Williams' label, Curb Records, refused to either release the album or allow him to issue it on another record label. This angered Williams so greatly that he began selling "Fuck Curb Records" T-shirts at his concerts, where he would play a number of songs from this release, notably "Hillbilly Joker" (retitled "Mississippi Highway" or "Go Fuck You"), "Life of Sin," "Hellbilly," and "Tennessee Driver." The latter track was eventually re-recorded for Williams' 2009 ''

Assjack Assjack is an American heavy metal band led by Hank Williams III and Garrett Bremer. The band is one of the three incarnations of Williams' live show. Career For Assjack's long-anticipated 2009 self-titled studio debut, only Williams sang and p ...

'' side project. Eight years after ''This Aint Country's'' recording, and following Williams' 2011 acrimonious departure from the label, Curb suddenly elected to release the now-retitled album without any input from Williams, and promote it as ''"The New Hank Williams III Album."'' In response, Williams advised his fans ''"Don’t buy it, but get it some other way and burn the hell out of it and give it to everyone."'' Two songs from the original ''This Aint Country'' track ("Hang on" and "Runnin' & Gunnin") were not included in ''Hillbilly Joker''; however, Curb released them three years later in the album ''Ramblin' Man''. This album was made up of previously released material, as well as outtakes and covers of other artists' songs from tribute projects. Much like ''Hillbilly Joker'', ''Ramblin' Man'' was not authorized by Williams and his reaction to the release was to urge his fans not to buy it. ''Hillbilly Joker'' marked his last studio album to be released through Curb, and his first of five releases from the label since fulfilling his contract.

Track listing

Personnel

* Hank Williams III – vocals, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, composer, electric guitar * Shawn McWilliams – drums * Michael McCanless – fiddle * Jason Brown – bass guitar, stand-up bass *

Duane Denison Duane Denison (born January 21, 1959) is an American guitarist best known for work with the avant-garde rock band The Jesus Lizard. He is also a founding member of super-group Tomahawk. Biography Denison began his musical career by studying c ...

– electric guitar

Chart positions

References

{{Authority control 2011 albums Cowpunk albums Psychobilly albums Hank Williams III albums Albums produced by Dave Sardy Curb Records albums Unauthorized albums