‘A lot of young people don’t realise they are Hank’s songs they are hearing.’ — Michael Schack (pictured)
HANK Williams would be 76 tomorrow if the legendary country singer-songwriter had not been lost to the world at the age of just 29 in 1953. Williams died in the back of a Cadillac, doped up on pills and alcohol, on his way to a New Year’s Day gig in Canton, Ohio. His legacy has had a profound effect on music fans and recording artists over the past 20 years, including people like Bob Dylan, who once described Williams as the person he would most like to meet. To celebrate the magic of Hank and raise some much-needed funds, Warrnambool community radio station 3WAY-FM is holding a tribute to the country star, to be held tomorrow night at Proudfoots. Michael Schack, a presenter at 3WAY, said the fund-raiser would include performances by Andy Alberts, Granny’s Grave, Lost In Suburbia, Rohan Keert and Brendan Dowd, among a host of local performers. Schack said the process of organising the event had uncovered a lot of closet Williams fans among artists in the area. Notable among them was Andy Alberts. “He was a Hank Williams fanatic, they were some of the first songs he learnt to play.” Schack said songs penned by Williams during his six-year career had since been recorded by artists as diverse as Linda Rondstat, John Fogerty and Taj Mahal. “A lot of young people don’t realise they are Hank’s songs they are hearing,” he said. Schack said he “grew up with the Beatles and Rolling Stones”, but became a Williams fan later in life, just like his father, who used to sing Hank’s songs. He said Australian country star Lee Kernaghan, who will be in the south-west on a regional tour, had been invited to the event and had expressed his enthusiasm, but his attendance was not confirmed. The fund-raiser promises to be a great night of entertainment, and will even include an appearance by the dog belonging to 3-WAY announcer Stuart Prince, named — you guessed it — Hank.
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