Hank Williams III Releases ‘Grandiose Delusions’ Side Project Album

Starting in September, Hank Williams III began posting demo recordings, scratch tracks, and other bits of audio via YouTube that it appears he’s been accumulating over the years, with some of the stuff probably only fit of audiophiles, archivists, and Hank3 enthusiasts, and other tracks being pretty cool songs we previously hadn’t heard from the 3rd generation performer. Since it’s now been over nine years since Hank3 has officially released any new music, it was welcomed by most fans, even if they had to dig to find something that appeals to them.
The audio releases haven’t been exclusively country tracks, just like Hank3’s career has been a mix of other genres, especially punk and metal. In fact, most of the YouTube stuff fits outside of country. That is especially true for a full blown album Hank3 has been releasing on YouTube over the last few days called Weekend Star under the band name Grandiose Delusions, and a previously-unheard Hank3 pseudonym called Tripz Loop Killer.
Most definitely a departure from Hank3’s country stuff, and even his punk and metal projects, much of the Grandiose Delusions material is a strange mix of synth heavy electronica with a dark metal undertone. The image of a cover design in one of the videos reveals more details about this project that perhaps at some point was set for a proper release through “Hank 3 Records.”
All songs written by Tripz Loop Killer except “Dragon Attack” written by Brian May. All rhythm tracks were performed LIVE on this record. No loops Permitted! Drums, Keyboards, Bass, Vocals, Electric Guitar, performed, engineered, mixed, & mastered by Tripz Loop Killer years ago at The Underground Bunker Section of Haunted Ranch’s Institutional Supreme Program That Never Gives A Straight Answer Once granted all levels of clearance by the Government.”
“My Beater” was written directly for the Special guest Mickey Avalon! Roland, Korg, Arturia, TC Helicon, Sure, Peavy, Trace Elliot, Pearl Drums, Roscoe Basses. Art layout By the Clown In TX. Thanks to Muse’s Bloodize Eden Prosper. Special Thanks to: Megaforce Records, Patrick Files, Maria Ferrero/Adrenaline PR, and Mike Boles. Booking: Contact TKO

Though some fans of Hank Williams III seem to be freaking out that this album denotes some new shift in approach to his career, Hank3 appears to have recorded this album many years ago as a basement project, just like many of the tracks he’s been releasing lately. If he felt it was a major album release, he wouldn’t be throwing it up on YouTube for free. He would have manufactured CDs and uploading it to Spotify.
According to the liner notes, the album was recorded in the basement of Hank3’s Haunted Ranch, which was his spot in east Nashville where he ran his operation out of for years before he was forced to move from the location many years ago. According to Hank3, it was being forced to move from the Haunted Ranch and difficulty finding a new base of operations that have resulted in his virtual disappearance from both recording and touring for going on a decade.
Perhaps the release of all of this previously-recorded material is Hank3 kicking the cobwebs out, and getting ready for something new. Saving Country Music has reached out to Hank3, but he has not responded. As one of the catalysts for the current independent country music resurgence we’re currently amidst, Hank3’s absence has been felt distinctly, just as his return would be heralded, though some have worried how the new “woke” world we live in would handle an uncensored character like Hank3, or vice versa.
Recently on the hit podcast “2 Bears, 1 Cave” that pairs comedian Tom Segura with Bert Kreischer (and sometimes others), the subject of country music came up, first in the form of Hank Williams Jr. and his song “Country Boy Can Survive,” and then on to Hank Williams III, which will make those that experienced Hank3 live back in the day.
“This mother–cker,” Bert Kreischer starts in. “He puts on a show. He’s got two bands. He goes up and plays legit honky tonk. Hank3 is a bad mother–cker. I took my whole crew to see him. He plays two shows. He’s got one with his punk band that’s after. And then he’s got one with his country and western band. He does two sets. He sings like his granddaddy.”
This is the reason folks are salivating for new stuff, and a resurgence from Hank Williams III. For many though, Grandiose Delusions and Weekend Star will be more of a curiosity than an appetite pleaser. But it’s also important to understand it’s not mean to be a major Hank3 release. It’s part of the hard drive dump Hank3 is currently doing, hopefully to clear space for a new beginning.
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The Grandiose Delusions tracks can be found on Hank3’s YouTube page.
(videos not embeddable due to age restrictions)
TRACK LIST:
1. Disregod
2. Lay N 2 U
3. No Hesitation
4. Cummin Up 4 Air
5. Better Hit That
6. Endless Love
7. Defend Me
8. Gotta Feel It
9. What’s It Gonna Be
10. Part Of Me
11. Truth or Dare
12. Shameface
13. Motherphone
14. Beat Control
15. Weekend Star
16. *
17. Locked Up
18. Backseat Breaker
19. Tragedy Arms
20. Let’s Make Up
21. My Beater
22. Melt The Stars
23. Uptight
24. Grandiose Delusions
25. Just To Dom
26. Don’t Wait On Me
27. Dragon Attack
October 23, 2022 @ 10:57 am
He’s also been doing an awful lot of shitposting on Facebook for some odd reason. From a marketing standpoint I don’t know if he’s doing himself any favors, but he’s certainly more active than he has been in recent years.
October 23, 2022 @ 12:02 pm
I think some people are living and dying with every little post Hank3 makes. I would generally agree that less is more, and he’s probably tuning some people out. But I also wouldn’t make too much of anything he’s posting, including these videos.
October 23, 2022 @ 11:10 am
Trig, what are your thoughts on the GD tracks? It’s obviously not country in any way, so I understand if you don’t want to comment. I don’t get them and think they’re awful. If it were another artist, I couldn’t see Hank 3 fans liking it, but there are some praising the music on YouTube. I get it’s fun to make stuff like that, and I’ve done similar electronic stuff with friends, but I wouldn’t subject anyone else to hear it, haha. I still love III though.
October 23, 2022 @ 12:11 pm
Obviously I am not an expert on whatever kind of music this is, so I am apprehensive to comment on it in detail.
I will say this though: Tyler Childers just released an album, and the third disc felt to me somewhat similar, like a basement or attic project with some bored dudes screwing around. The big difference here though is that Hank3 is releasing 27 tracks for free on YouTube, while Tyler Childers used those eight tracks to flesh out an album they were charging $60.00 for on vinyl. To me, they both sound pretty amateur. And I’m not completely foreign to heavy electronic music. I grew up listening to Nine Inch Nails, Lords of Acid and such. But I’m not going to hold it against any artist if they want to screw around, and then release stuff for free for fun. When folks start to spend good money on it when there is better music out there getting ignored, that’s when I take issue with it.
October 23, 2022 @ 11:40 am
Like rebel meets rebel and tin machine, this sounds like something the artist is doing for his own (good / sanity), and that’s fine. Not everything has to be done for corporate market share.
October 23, 2022 @ 12:18 pm
This sounds to me like something Hank3 did over a long week to satisfy his OCD, thought about releasing it at some point years ago, thought better of it (smartly), and is just throwing it out there now because why not? I honestly need to give it a couple more listens before I come to some deep determination on it because there’s a lot of stuff here. But I’m not going to fault him for releasing for free for the folks who may get a kick out of it in a dump of a ton of stuff that’s been sitting on a dusty hard drive for years.
October 23, 2022 @ 11:49 am
I haven’t listen to any of the grandiose Delusions material yet but I probably will eventually. I think fans better get ready because I really do feel like Hank is coming back & will have a new album out in 2024.
October 23, 2022 @ 1:33 pm
Oh , I am a very big fan of hank 3, cannot wait to hear it, 27 tracks? The more music the better, I am excited to hear this.
October 23, 2022 @ 2:43 pm
You like “Dick in Dixie?”
October 23, 2022 @ 6:20 pm
Great tune
October 23, 2022 @ 1:48 pm
Hank 3 is a strange dude.
October 23, 2022 @ 11:30 pm
Hey man, no thanks I am not gay, and no way I would be interested in a low educated hick like you, but if you are gay, then good for you, I hope you and your gay lover Bubba, will live happily ever after, I am happy for you two love birds.
October 23, 2022 @ 4:12 pm
These are so awful. Straight to the dust bin of history next to 3 Bar Ranch’s Cattle Callin.
I did look up the people that starred in the very professionally done (and quite awesome) music video for the song Grandiose Delusions and they’re all easily ten years older now than how they appear in it. Sadly there’s alot of people in the youtube comments that think this is a new project.
October 25, 2022 @ 5:33 am
I was recorded in 2013. It’s in the description for the video.
October 23, 2022 @ 6:07 pm
I don’t get Hank III. It’s music for drugs I’m not on.
October 23, 2022 @ 10:00 pm
You don’t get Country Heroes?
October 23, 2022 @ 8:45 pm
I’ll check it out for sure! Hank3 will always be a favorite artist of mine. I’m a fan of not only country but metal, punk, electronics, ambient, jazz, big band, bluegrass, doom, and pretty much any genre you can think of as long as it sounds good to my ears. I’m just glad Shelton is showing some activity again. Nothing will ever top Broke, Lovesick, and Driftin and Straight To Hell for me as far as Hank’s country albums go but, and this is probably a largely unpopular opinion; 3 Bar Ranch Cattle Callin on LSD is a totally wackadoo listen. don’t try it. I liked it, though.
October 24, 2022 @ 6:47 am
Nothing I’m interested in here, but hoping that a Hank III interacting again with the fans is a Hank III thinking about returning to making music I am interested in.
October 24, 2022 @ 4:37 pm
What? The comment section hasn’t been closed because people are posting shit you don’t like, Trigger? I think Knight got a little of what he deserved by the way, and your reporting on the douche has been good over the years, but censoring people you disagree with is weak. You’re better than that.
October 24, 2022 @ 4:54 pm
1) The comments section on the Mikel Knight article was not closed due to people posting “shit I don’t like.” I was closed because people were posting unconscionably callous and horrifically uninformed comments equating the mothers of the two men who died while working for Mikel Knight as cancel culture zealots, and myself for reporting on it as being on a “witch hunt.” The comments left on that article were beyond reprehensible, and if anything, the entire comments section should be deleted.
2) Circumventing the closed comments section and leaving comments on other articles will result in your comments getting deleted after this one. Zero tolerance. Also, leaving comments on other articles is the reason the comments section on the Mikel Knight story has not be re-opened.
3) What happened with the Mikel Knight story will necessitate me closing more comments section, and closing them quicker whenever comments get out of hand. Go to virtually any other website and try to leave a comment. 90% of comments sections have been eradicated on the internet, and I’ve never been closer to closing mine in its entirety. Comments that disagree with whatever is published in the article proper are acceptable and even encouraged. But certain commenters have taken it to an extreme, and taken advantage of this site’s lax comment rules, simply use it to post about whatever they want, and have created a direct liability on Saving Country Music.
October 26, 2022 @ 1:06 pm
Hahahahahahaha. You take yourself far too seriously, dude. You need to relax a bit before you stroke out. ???? And maybe think about taking sensitivity training course and grow thicker skin.
Admit it, you closed the comments because your feelings were hurt, and not everyone was riding your dick. Like I said, you did a good job cover the whole Knight situation, but not everyone is going to agree with you. Censoring just makes you look weak.
October 26, 2022 @ 6:15 pm
Man get the hell over yourself, jimmy seriously ???? take your own advice , comments are not mandatory, you’re thinking about this way too much
October 29, 2022 @ 7:13 am
Are you a 12-year-old? You sound like a moron. Did you even comprehend anything the admin wrote?
October 25, 2022 @ 6:45 pm
I’m just glad he’s still alive.
October 26, 2022 @ 8:30 am
As a massive Hank3 fan, these tracks are a bit of a let down, but I greatly appreciate the fact he released them for free.
It’s great to see him being more active recently and hopefully it leads to new records.
November 24, 2022 @ 7:14 am
Man I actually dig some of this project. It’s got a cool vibe but I think it could be even better with the right person mixing it. I haven’t heard the whole thing because they aren’t in order on his YouTube channel. I like a lot of wierd shit though! Lol. Some of the music reminds me of Puscifer a little bit too, which is funny because I’ve talked to a lot of folks in that whole country scene like Bob Wayne who are big fans of Pusicfer and other electronic/synth music. As am I. I definitely still hope he puts out a new country album soon though.