Hank Williams III used to play punk. He played nasty and angry grinding fuck you music. All blitzkreig drums and buzz saw guitars. He had the lust for music instilled in him by his granddaddy but playing that kind of music had problems. Hank Williams was to Country like Keats to Lyric Poetry . The oepdial energy was so strong that his son ended up playing Good Old Boy and sliding thru on Football Anthems. Who knows why but Hank III started to play country but to this day while playing live he wears a Misfit Shirt under his flannels. Maybe he realized that punk was to the cities what Country was to rural areas. Maybe he realized there was a new tradition emerging that refused to sell out to the"flood of Assholes" (Robbie Fulks) , the men in Armani who fly in from LA rather then the men who migrate from the rurals and buy a Nudie as their first suit . It started off as crude electric bar blues with such titles as I Put the Dick in Dixieland . He is angry and eloquent and plays guitar like a hanging noose. He is not as lyrical and lonley as his grandfather but he is nearly as passionaite. Maybe Alt Country will save Nashville. Record Sales are down and Universal is putting their hat on Faith Hill. But people are taking notice of this whole generation of people who take country as a vehicle for some pretty important traditions. Maybe Kasey Chambers and Lucinda Williams will kick Faiths ass . Maybe Robbie Fulks , Hank III and Ryan Adams will take Garth Brooks, Allen Jackson and Tim McGraw back behind the Barn. Because w. a marketing degree from the U of Oklahama cannot be a very effective weapon.