Hank Williams III Re-Emerges Shouting out Kelsey Rae Copeland

It’s very very rare we hear anything about Hank Williams III these days, and even more rare to get a glimpse of the man himself. It’s not that he’s been completely incommunicado. On a fairly regular basis he’s on social media touting ’80s and ’90s punk and metal bands in his feed. He also piped up briefly when David Allan Coe died recently to pay his respects. There have been a few recent photos swirling out there on the internet of the very elusive country music heir taken by others, but you never know if you’re being too prying by reposting them.
But recently, the 3rd generation performer showed his face and piped up to tout throwback country artist Kelsey Rae Copeland. “The Patsy Cline/Loretta Lynn of the younger generation,” Hank3 said in a post on social media. Anyone who is familiar with Kelsey Rae Copeland and her music will not quibble with that assessment at all. She recently released a new song called “A Place In Time” written and produced by Copeland herself that illustrates this perfectly.
The photo of Williams and Copeland comes from Eastside Bowl in Nashville where metal band Pentagram recently played a show with The Obsessed. Similar to Hank3, Copeland is apparently a metal fan, which you can hear in the often dark hue of the lyricism of her otherwise Golden Era classic country sound.
Hank3 has been mostly dormant since his last tour in 2014. After finally breaking free from his contract with Curb Records, he released a succession of independently released albums, including his last full country album, 2013’s Brothers of the 4X4, and toured behind it into the following year.
Then after he was forced to move out of his home/headquarters/recording studio called The Haunted Ranch, and shortly thereafter his favorite dog Trooper died, he’s been almost completely out of the public eye, not releasing any new music or performing publicly.
In 2018, Hank3 did participate in a DevilDriver tribute to Outlaw Country. In 2022, he also released a ton of demos, scratch tracks, alternative takes, and other bits of audio on YouTube, including an entire experimental album called Grandiose Delusions.
Now would be as good of a time as any for Hank3 to return with the way throwback and traditional country is on the upswing. But anyone who knows Hank3 knows he marches to his own drum. Hopefully someday he will re-emerge permanently to help once again carry the legacy of the Hank Williams name and true country music forward.
– – – – – – – –
If you found this article valuable, consider leaving Saving Country Music A TIP.

July 2, 2026 @ 6:41 pm
This is pretty damn good. When is she releasing an album?
July 5, 2026 @ 1:39 pm
Yeah I just went down the rabbit hole on YouTube of her recordings and videos and man that is a great artist. I really need an album.
She has stuff that’s super retro like Jake Penrod or Vaden Landers, but also stuff that falls in the gothic country / Gothic Americana realm. And she’s really good at all of it. This feels like an artist custom made for my tastes in country music.
July 2, 2026 @ 9:09 pm
Clovis is on iTunes
July 3, 2026 @ 6:51 am
Yes, reported on this earlier this week:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/charley-crockett-signs-with-atlantic-outpost-plots-return-of-new-album-clovis/
Don’t know I need to post yet another redundant article about this so trolls can come here and tell us Crockett’s actually from a very affluent family and is an industry plant. Oh, and have you see then video of him on the subway ?!?
July 2, 2026 @ 11:56 pm
I wonder if III is trying to get into Kelsey Rae’s pants.
July 3, 2026 @ 6:52 am
Is this really necessary?
July 3, 2026 @ 7:43 am
I’ll guess that the upvotes are from people who caught the allusion to the lyric on Miss Shania from the first track on Hank III’s Rising Outlaw CD from before the millennium.
July 3, 2026 @ 4:08 am
Wonder what he does for money now?
July 3, 2026 @ 9:08 pm
Maybe he could go on hook.
July 4, 2026 @ 6:32 am
Mechanic.
July 6, 2026 @ 1:58 pm
Might he get drunk and rob a bank?
July 3, 2026 @ 4:41 am
God damn he really is a spitting image of Sr.
Bless us with some music III! We need you!
July 3, 2026 @ 9:10 am
He looks more like Trace Adkins than Hank Sr. or Jr.
July 3, 2026 @ 11:46 am
Looks like Ted Nugent
July 3, 2026 @ 2:19 pm
Well they are both Sagittarius, so…
July 3, 2026 @ 3:14 pm
I thought he looked like Johnny Paycheck’s younger, taller brother.
July 3, 2026 @ 5:12 am
One thing that I bet drives him nuts is the whole, “you look like your grandpa,” “you sound just like your grand daddy,” “you’re your grandpa’s twin,” “sing Jambalaya or them Lovesick Blues for us, son.” “When you doing an album with your daddy?” “Are those Hank Sr.’s boots is that Hank Sr.’s guitar?”
Myself, I think he is over the whole making music thing, and to be honest I don’t think his heart was ever really in it.
July 3, 2026 @ 6:41 am
I think he invited the comparison when he went with the moniker Hank III
July 3, 2026 @ 9:12 am
Yep, when he needed the money he had no problem with the comparisons or playing them up.
People who burn from the inside out with the music never retire from it.
July 3, 2026 @ 8:30 am
I like it. Thanks, Trig.
July 3, 2026 @ 11:33 am
3 left a huge hole and didn’t even say goodbye… So hoping he comes back, I love his punk country.
July 3, 2026 @ 2:41 pm
Hope Hank starts releasing albums again I miss getting new albums from him God only knows what he has written for the past 13 years since 2013’s Brothers of the 4×4, I highly doubt Hank has stopped writing new songs sine his hiatus.
July 3, 2026 @ 7:53 pm
mental health issues and drugs according to the grapevine (certainly seems like maybe he’s doing better finally but that shit he did on social media a few years ago sounded like tweaker shit to me). I’m not holding my breath for anything coherent coming out of him ever again.
There are so many fantastic artists doing punk country now.
July 4, 2026 @ 1:18 pm
He got sued by Curb and lost all the rights to his name etc. He still plays music at a local venue and fills in with other bands.
July 4, 2026 @ 1:38 pm
None of this is true.
July 4, 2026 @ 7:46 pm
Welcome to the internet. Haha.
July 5, 2026 @ 8:09 pm
Tweaker??? Junkie??? jeez, just shut yer ignorant presumptuous yapper already, dude is the most REAL country dude out there, currently recording or not…go back in your bedroom and blast your bullshit luke Bryan/Aldean bro country garbage hahaha
July 5, 2026 @ 8:22 pm
I don’t think Stellar is listening to “luke Bryan/Aldean bro country.” Never safe to assume that of someone in the comments section of Saving Country Music.
July 5, 2026 @ 8:42 pm
fair enough, but calling someone hes never met a Tweaker is cool?
right on Mr. Writer/editor bro, excellent double standard you got going there
July 5, 2026 @ 8:52 pm
I don’t recall saying that calling Hank3 a tweaker was cool.
I’m also not interested in your internet argument.
July 5, 2026 @ 8:52 pm
and btw i love this site, and most everyone’s commentsbwhether i agree with em or not …. never had the urge to chime in until I read this Stellar ASSJACK”s bullshit…no sir, that straight up SHITE aint gonna slide by on my watch, NO fuckin way
July 5, 2026 @ 9:30 pm
no you did not, but you jumped in right away and defended the guy saying how its stupid it is to presume he listens to bro country, which WAS a stupid knee jerk thing for.me to say….but please quit with the double standard crap and let Stellar speak for himself if he wants to
fair enough?
July 5, 2026 @ 11:20 pm
What exactly is a “real country dude”? I’d love to know. And what is with your all caps silliness? You sound much worse than the guy you are going after who could very well be correct considering the guy hasn’t put out any music in well over a decade. Also you are the only person here using words like “tweaker” and “junkie”. Maybe look in the mirror before calling others out.
July 6, 2026 @ 10:31 am
oh golly haha….well sir, if ya have to ask what REAL country is, well then YOU obviously AIN’T
and yeah gossip guy Stellar DID call 3 a TWEAKER, even heard it thru the “grapevine and everything
my being WORSE or better than anyone else on here really has NOTHING to do with ANYthing, and I frankly dont give a damn
Like i said, love the site and its recognition/celebration of REAL country
Your user name gave me a great idea, gonna go throw on NOLA by DOWN \m/
Now Playing—LIFER
cheers buddy! 🙂
July 3, 2026 @ 4:30 pm
The second and third Devildriver albums might have been the best groove metal albums of their era.
I think it’s awesome he was part of their tribute album. Country and metal fit much more hand-in-glove than people realize.
July 3, 2026 @ 5:27 pm
Seen the damn band bout 10 or 12 tiimes …such a tight great band ..always met ya afterwards by the bus for fans..hope your well Shelton…miss your shows you always gave 325 %i was amazed the MAN could play 4 hr shows a d was always great to fans whether they were 21 or 70 at his shows
July 3, 2026 @ 7:54 pm
God damn she is good. I REALLY want an album of this. Pretty please. She’s like a female version of Jake Penrod or something. I feel like fans of Rachel Brooke would like her too.
July 4, 2026 @ 4:21 pm
Too bad III can’t seem to eclipse Jr.,but he’s still got time.
July 5, 2026 @ 10:13 pm
Could be that’s part of 3’s problem: Being told by his sycophant’s that he’s better than Jr., and thinking that he somehow has to eclipse him.
3 is not going to eclipse Hank Jr….But that doesn’t mean he can’t do a lot of good stuff and be recognized for it.
July 4, 2026 @ 7:39 pm
Nothing against Kelsey Rae Copeland at all but Patsy Cline & Loretta Lynn were original and different in their day. Ms Copeland is just playing old music, nothing original whatsoever. I don’t see any comparison.
July 4, 2026 @ 9:13 pm
Obviously the comparison was a sonic one. I agree with your originality assessment. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with artists trying to preserve the Golden Era country sound either.
July 5, 2026 @ 11:22 pm
Oh not at all but the comparison seems absurd to me. I love Sierra Ferrel but her pal Nikki Lane (who I also love) calls her “This generation’s Patsy Cline” which also seems kind of silly to me.
July 5, 2026 @ 4:35 am
I seen him in Raleigh NC and he was awesome I pray that he returns to his music your fans miss u and the real country music you play other than Ella Langley that shit today isn’t country music hope to see you soon
July 5, 2026 @ 12:53 pm
The last paragraph is wishful thinking – understandable, of course, but the article admits that HankIII spends his time touting non-country acts.
July 5, 2026 @ 7:23 pm
He’s always done that though, even when he was putting out some of the most traditional country music of the last 25 years.
July 5, 2026 @ 8:51 pm
Gee I wish Hank III would come back, he’d sell out everywhere. I seen him few times live, great entertainer n songwriter. I’m big fan of his father n grandfather and he’s just as great as they were/are
July 6, 2026 @ 8:52 am
Seen him with Reverend Heat Horton.