Hank Williams III

I could have took the easy way and just been a cowboy, looking good, trying to make my money off Hank Williams and being this clean-cut guy. But I always wanted to be myself and go against the grain.

I could put in garage doors or work in McDonald's but that's it. So I figured I might as well play the Nashville game.

I'm just gonna keep doing what I do, and hopefully not make too many people mad.

I can't really change Nashville.

I'm here to be lovesick, broke and drifting, writing heartache songs and singing about pain and misery and depression, with a few good times here and there.

I write a song for me and I sing a song for me - no one else.

If I'm opening up for George Jones or playing a complete honky-tonk, I do true country music. But if it's a complete rock club, I'll do some country and a little bit of this hillbilly acoustic country metal or whatever it's called.

The only thing I got of my granddaddy's is a necktie.

The true Hank III fans want me to be me.

I've got an addictive personality.

George Jones, Johnny Paycheck all them dudes they're respected and they were twice as crazy as I'll ever be.

There's only one Hank Williams, man. Singing that high-voiced style, them bluegrassers, I don't see how they do it - Jimmy Martin, Bill Monroe - it's just a natural thing, man.

We're kind of like the Kurt Cobain of country music in a way.

He doesn't know how to be warmer. I can't blame him. My dad had to deal with more stuff than I ever did.

I'm the kind of guy if you ask me a question I'll tell you the truth if it's hurting me or not. If it's good or bad, I'll cut to the chase and that's the way it is.

We definitely get respect as far as the musicianship, working hard and being road dogs.

We're bringing together the country folks and the rockers.

I'll never outdo Hank Williams. That's impossible.

If you look at how much Hank Williams did by 29 years old, it makes you feel pretty worthless.

We are kind of country, but we do cater to louder kinds of music.

I'll tell you, Nashville ruined country music.

I am from a rebel blood line.

I take pride in the fact that a guy and a gal can come to my show, have a couple of beers and still go home with a little money in their pockets.

I thank God for all the independent hard rock that I grew up with.

If I was just a country singer, I wouldn't be near as cool and I wouldn't have nowhere near as cool of a fan base.

The folks at Curb Records didn't have respect for me and I was there for 15 years.

That's part of it: You can't be a country singer-songwriter if you've never had an official heartbreak.

No other Hank Williams has ever screamed like I have. I guess that's my way of officially being me.

It's right there on my birth certificate, 'Shelton Hank Williams III.' It's not fake.

I want to be able to deliver the kind of show that I want - to go onstage with my chin held up.

I'm a very respectful person.

I don't like to tell people what they should or shouldn't do.

I've always said I'm gonna work the road as hard as I can 'til I'm 50, then I might slow down a little bit.

This is just what I do, play music and create sounds and all that good stuff.

My whole game plan, at first, was I wanted to rock out as hard as I could because usually you're old by the time you're 24.

In country, you can grow old with your fans. You can still do shows when you're 70.

I chose taking the hard road and creating my own niche and getting my own fan base.

I would definitely pick Flint over Detroit any day.

My mom was always playing Elvis around the house or ZZ Top, so there was always rock-n-roll and country being played.

I'm not just a country artist. I've got so any sides to me and the music I write.

It's a great feeling being with a label that respects what I do.

You can only be creative so long and then you're just down and out and completely destroyed.

Most radio stations suck as far as playing heavy-metal.

I've always had that feeling for the dark side, for the anger and the hate-rock. The music is just the way I deal with it.

My relationship with my dad will always be strained, but that just goes to show, I guess, that I'm doin' a pretty good job of bein' myself, and bein' a rebel.

Everything is not perfect in our world.

All through the 'Guttertown' record, there's happy, there's sad, there's strange - and I'm painting that picture.

When I'm making a record, I'm trying to take people through different moods.

I was always a Pink Floyd fan, and I was always into movie soundtracks.

If Hank Williams had lived any longer, his name would have been one of the most hated in the land. Nashville would have dug him deep.