Conscious Choice: Americana Music Mixes it Up

November 2002

Americana Music Mixes it Up

Hank III and Buddy and Julie Miller Come to Town

by Garaud MacTaggart

”Americana," a.k.a. alt-country, is the term generally used when describing music which seems to straddle the porous tripartite boundary between rock, folk, and country. Its musical tendencies were first brought to attention amidst the later spasms of the psychedelic era by the Gram Parsons’ era Byrds, the Grateful Dead, and others. Later musicians — including the Flatlanders, Rank and File, and the Long Ryders — furthered the burgeoning genre by hailing Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and Merle Haggard as part of their pantheon of heroes even as they recognized an equal debt to Muddy Waters, Elvis Presley, and Ray Charles.

Two acts appearing in Chicago during November, Buddy and Julie Miller and Hank Williams III illustrate the sheer diversity found in "Americana." Buddy and Julie Miller have a closer bond to country music as a whole than does, despite his lineage, Hank Williams III. While Hank III comes out of a thrash background (drummer for Buzzkill, bassist with Superjoint Ritual), the Millers have worked in Emmylou Harris’ band, written a number of songs performed by other artists (including Hank III’s rendition of "Lonesome For You"), and, in Buddy’s case, developed quite a reputation as an engineer, overseeing sessions by Harris, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Jim Lauderdale among others.

Hybrid Alt-country

Voted Guitarist of the Year at the 1999 Nashville Music Awards, Buddy Miller isn’t content to just spin out the typical chicken scratch lines ofttimes associated with "modern" country music. While he often engages audiences with crunchy, honky-tonk leads, Miller is perfectly capable of sensitive accompaniment, leavening his bolder playing with a rhythmic filigree that finds its roots in Mother Maybelle Carter’s pioneering efforts of the 1920s and 1930s.

His recent album, "Midnight and Lonesome," is a fine showcase for his skills as vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. Amongst the many gems on that release are a throbbing version of the Everly Brothers’ classic rocker "The Price of Love" and his own subtle, understated exercise in blue and lonesome called "I Can’t Get Over You." He even dips into the rhythm and blues bag for a more than respectable rendering of Percy Mayfield’s masterpiece, "Please Send Me Someone To Love."

Julie Miller’s abilities mesh beautifully with her husband’s. She writes the lion’s share of material heard on their solo and duo albums in addition to providing stellar, individualistic lead and backup vocals, unveiling a lean, high voice that cuts through aural mixes with ease. The vocal interplay between the pair, especially in "The River’s Gonna Run" from their 2001 album ("Buddy and Julie Miller") is stunning enough to raise the hair on the nape of a harmony fan’s neck.

The Ole Man’s Son

The differences between Hank Williams III (given name Shelton Hank Williams) and the Millers are generational on one hand and, perhaps, genetic on the other. The seemingly self destructive life of Hank III seems to be in the same sort of rebellious, drug abusing, alcohol imbibing tradition of his grandfather and father. The demons driving the three Williams’ psyches may be different but the implied burden of living up to the first Hank’s impressive artistic legacy has quite possibly wreaked havoc on the outlook of son and grandson as they approached their 30th birthday and beyond.

In Hank III’s case, an unruly streak led him to work in the high-energy, metal-inflected worlds of thrash and punk music, a world apart from the typical country music lifestyle. When his rough and rowdy ways caught up with him and child support payments became a pressing monetary issue, the youngest Hank began trading in on his family name. He started singing the songs of Hank I, attracting audiences seduced by the memory of his grandfather, eventually going so far as to secure an appearance at the Grand Old Opry.

On the basis of his two "Americana" oriented albums, "Risin’ Outlaw" and "Lovesick, Broke, and Driftin’," it is apparent that Hank III has an abundance of talent if he chooses to channel it instead of fighting it. "7 Months, 39 Days" and "Cecil Brown" could turn into classics of the genre while "Trashville" is a well-shaped, rocking, country tune in the tradition of his father but containing lyrics that rail against the Nashville hit machinery.

It was Hank III’s name and apparent vocal similarities to his grandfather which got him his contract with Curb Records but it is his strident desire to do things his way which has since caused him to feud with his label over the release of "This Ain’t Country." This last named album is as far removed from traditional country bloodlines as an earth mover is from a little red wagon, reverting to a developing style that Williams terms "Hellbilly," a mutant version of his own punk and thrash roots. The two sides of Hank III’s career have been evident at club dates during the past few years. Nowadays he has a tendency to feature one set with his band playing highly original updates of Hank I’s honky-tonk style before doing a Jekyll and Hyde that transforms the band into a "Hellbilly" outfit, returning to the punk and thrash roots of his own.

Garaud MacTaggart is a freelance writer and music critic based in Buffalo, N.Y. He currently writes for the Buffalo News and CDNOW.

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