Hank Williams III will release his third honky-tonk album, Thrown Out of the Bar, in October, a few months after the long-awaited release of Ass Jack, his hardcore release as Hank III.

Ass Jack has been sitting on the backburner for more than two years, as Williams tried to iron out release issues with his label. "Of course, anybody that lives with a record for two years is gonna wanna have to change it," he says of Ass Jack. "It's been a long fight. And we're still fighting with the label over me wanting to make the album better, because I'm sick of fucking listening to it."

Not wont to sit still long, Williams has also used some of the downtime during the album's delay to record another rock record. Weaned on punk and hardcore as a pup, he has been taking the genre's DIY ethic to heart, issuing a few limited edition authorized bootlegs of music reflecting his angrier side. "Just last week I cut ten brand new songs with me playing drums, bass and guitar and screaming my head off on a bunch of sick ass heavy shit," he says. "Since the label's wasting my time I just stay up on the game and make as many handmade bootlegs as possible. Those have caught on; some sell for like $275 on eBay. I have to do something where I feel creative everyday, so I just take it upon myself and play in as many bands and do as much country and hard rock as I can every day."

Were his own country and punk projects not a sufficient outlet, Williams also plays bass with former Pantera frontman Philip Anselmo's Superjoint Ritual, which plans to tour and release a new album this summer. "I'm just stockpiling my shit in case I die on a fucking plane on the way to Europe or something," he says. "You gotta be prepared. That's the deal, man."

ANDREW DANSBY
(April 17, 2003)