Tom Waits Interviews Hank III in Mojo Magazine
In the upcoming 200th issue of Mojo Magazine, the legendary Tom Waits takes the helm as editor, and handpicks Hank III to be one of the issue’s featured artists.
In the 7 page spread, Waits recounts seeing Hank III for the first time at the Mystic Theatre in Petaluma, CA:
“I had heard he does a country set that bore an eerily physical and vocal resemblance to his grandfather, Hank Williams Sr. It is not an impersonation, but it does contain the blue spark of the family jewels. So, I got to be transported, and how well I was. Kidnapped. Willingly.”
There is also an extensive Q&A between III and Waits where they discuss music, guitars, the “Haunted Ranch” that III calls home, working on chicken farms, and much more.
Waits:“So you’re self made in spite of your history and your lineage. You’re like country royalty, so you’re like the Strange Prince.”
Hank III:“I could have taken the easy road but the hard road is more me. I’ve always had that independent streak in me. I went to Franklin Rebel High School and that’s what my granddad did, he marched to his own beat and that’s what my dad did…no video, no airplay and we made it in Billboards Top 10, man. And shaking those hands and saying hello is what did it.”
Many pictures taken by Hank III are also included, as well as an extensive write up called “Sing Him Back Home” about the Reinstate Hank movement.
Mojo Magazine is based in London and the issue has been available in Europe for some time. There are a few places where it is already available in the US, but it will be fully released in July, and is available at Barnes & Noble.
For Hank III to get such ringing endorsements from arguably one of the greatest songwriters and performers of our generation with such a tremendous level of critical acclaim and appreciation, and then add the exposure to the Reinstate Hank movement, this article is the proverbial promotional cash cow for Hank III, and by proxy, all related bands.
Hank III’s music is also featured in the latest episode of HBO’s True Blood.
Thanks to Restless in Amsterdam, mattNYSH from the Cussin Board and other European REAL country fans for helping to get the word about this interview back to the States.
June 13, 2010 @ 6:47 pm
Way to go Restless in Amsterdam, and the rest of y’all… Great news for Hank III and the Reinstate Hank movement… Thanks Trigger Man !!!
June 14, 2010 @ 1:38 am
OH MY GOD! This is too good to be true. I’ve been a HUGE Waits fan for most of my life. And not only that, I’ve been a dedicated MOJO reader for years. I’ve read a lot of music mags in my life, but MOJO beats them all. Best writers, best features, best value for money. This is truly exciting!
Cheers,
MLP
June 14, 2010 @ 4:59 am
THANKS TRIGGERMAN..WILL IT BE IN B&N IN JULY?HOW MUCH?
June 14, 2010 @ 5:40 am
good stuff. tom waits has always been cool. sorta music’s charles bukowski. i’m going to look for the hbo episode.
June 14, 2010 @ 9:45 am
GOOD HEADS UPS!!!
June 14, 2010 @ 1:13 pm
Glad to see this blog, so, you have a copy of the issue now? Magazines are always ahead of the year, aren’t they, if it is June, you see issues of July and so on. Thanks for posting this, Triggerman! I keep on reading the interview over and over again, can’t get enough of it.
June 14, 2010 @ 1:38 pm
No, I still do not have a copy, but I’ve seen scans of the entire article on a few different message boards. From my understanding it will be available in my locale in about a week. I would put this high on the list of Hank III/Tom Waits collectibles.
I’m not sure if all magazines come out early in Europe, or if it is just this one because it is based there. You might be a better authority on that.
June 14, 2010 @ 1:42 pm
Could you provide a link to the scans, or post the scan in the SCM forum?
June 14, 2010 @ 1:56 pm
well, if I can help you out with the full magazine, I mean send you one, just let me know, I’d be happy to help you out.
June 14, 2010 @ 3:49 pm
Pillsbury & Restless,
Honestly, scanning the whole story and posting it here I think is kind of an unethical thing to do. Kind of like doing the same thing with putting an album up on a torrent site. I know this practice is pretty commonplace and probably won’t hurt much, but since starting this site I’ve always tried to keep things on the up and up, and not link to torrents or other pirated material. As a writer, I understand that magazines hurting these days and are trying to sell copies by putting these big names together. Who knows, someday I might write for Mojo. Just like I wouldn’t want anyone to take a whole article of mine and put it on their site, I won’t do that to Mojo.
Not implying that anyone is unethical for posting to torrent sites or putting a whole magazine up online verbatim or asking me to do so, but that’s just something I’m not going to do personally. I’m gonna wait till it comes out, and get a physical copy. The point of this article is to let folks know whats coming up, and support Mojo for supporting our favorite artists, instead of stealing all of their content so nobody has to buy the magazine.
But if SOMEONE wanted to scan it in and post it on the Saving Country Music forum, well, I won’t stop them. That would be censorship. (wink)
June 14, 2010 @ 5:19 pm
thats pretty cool & mojo is a great mag i like the cds you get with the issues
June 14, 2010 @ 6:41 pm
Triggerman, I feel what your saying. Look at it this way though, I personally won’t/wouldn’t have bought the magazine (just for 1 article), whether or not you post the article, so what has Mojo lost?, nothing. By the same token, if you posted the interview, and it blew me away, I might subscribe to Mojo. So posting the interview would do more to promote than hurt them.—————- One time, I burnt a copy of TPB “Hellfire Hyms” for someone who’d never heard of them before. After hearing that CD, they’ve bought several more CD’s of them, and spread the whenever they have the chance.
June 14, 2010 @ 7:58 pm
Well see Pillsbury, that’s the dichotomy with pirated music. Major labels want to use illegal downloads as the scapegoat for why their industry is in shambles, when study after study proves that people who illegally download music also spend more money on music than anybody else.
Really that may have not been the best analogy. Let’s just say that I’ve been a writer for a while now, and scanning and posting the whole thing would come across as pretty Busch league, and possibly libelous, and believe it or not, even though I rarely if ever talk about mainstream artists, it is important for me to be appreciated by other music media outlets as a credible guy. And trust me, people are watching. Being credible I think reflects good for the music, and makes us look like a more credible scene.
We’ll all have it under our noses soon enough.
June 14, 2010 @ 9:40 pm
Bandana,
Sorry, your question got lost in the shuffle. Not sure how much it will be. I saw someone saying it was only gonna be six bucks. The current one costs $10. It comes with a CD, so they want a little more than your average rag.
June 15, 2010 @ 9:38 pm
tHANK YOU, tHANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!
June 15, 2010 @ 10:54 pm
…by the way, Do you know what song of III’s they are featuring on “TRUE BLOOD”? I just caught onto the series (season 1) and like the hell outta the theme song “Bad Things” by Jace Everett.
June 16, 2010 @ 3:06 am
AJ – when I was stateside I picked up Jace Everett’s ‘Red Revelations’. Like you, was completely seduced by the True Blood theme song. The album is hilarious! Put it like this: I can now understand why all the lay-dees on his facebook profile are leaving gushy, pervy posts on his page – it’s like musical soft porn! Erm, not QUITE what I was expecting. Bad Things is by far the highlight, and the only song like it on the album. It’s basically a really old song of his they stuck on the new album to garner some sales 🙁
Re: Mojo Mag – it’s fantastic! I’ve only ever bought a couple of issues (it retails for $20 here) but the free CD’s are amazing and they are definitely the kind of mags you keep. They did a celebratory Elvis one some years back, artists like Dead Kennedys covering Elvis songs. It’s how I discovered El Vez, the Mexican Elvis. I say support Mojo and buy yourself a copy! I bet the CD will be a little gem too.
Saving Country Music » Blog Archive » Who Will Be Country’s Next Savior?
June 29, 2010 @ 9:42 am
[…] the King of country music and his pops is one of the highest-selling country artists ever. Recently Tom Waits called him “Country Royalty, the Strange Prince,” and if you’re anything like me, when you […]
June 26, 2011 @ 4:38 am
thanks, triggerman. we seem to have lost touch somewhat. i appreciate it. now, i’m going to have to find a b and n that’s still open.