INFLUENCED: Justin Moore and Hank Williams Jr.

One of Justin Moore’s biggest influences can be described by a figure in country music who is larger than life: Hank Williams Jr. Justin tells Country Weekly, “I was always a huge fan of all the guys that were very unique… I was always a fan of the old-school country because that’s what my dad listened to. It described how I was growing up and rural America in the South. Hank Williams Jr. was a huge influence.”

Moore had a dream come true for him when he toured with Bocephus in 2008. He shares with Moments By Moser, “[Hank Jr.] is who I drank hot beer too and that brought back so many memories for me and to be out on tour with them was just a pinnacle moment for me. That is the kind of stuff I dreamed of.” For his self-titled debut album, Justin decided to close it out with a song that pays homage to his hero titled “Hank It” which was inspired by Junior’s rowdy performance style.

The Williams family tree is one of the most important family units in country music, right up there with The Carter Family and the Cash family. The patriarch of that clan is the legendary Hank Williams Sr., an impressive songwriter and singer who died at the age of 29 in 1952 when his son Hank Jr. was only three years old. Before his untimely death, Hank Sr. gave his offspring the nickname “Bocephus” inspired by country comedian Rod Brasfield’s ventriloquist dummy. When Hank Jr. reached the age of 11, his mother Audrey encouraged him to perform his father’s songs to keep the Williams legacy alive which lead to his Grand Ole Opry debut that same year. By the time he turned 14, Junior had already recorded his first album which is filled with his father’s songs. His first hit in 1964 “Long Gone Lonesome Blues” was even from Hank Sr.’s catalog.

It was difficult being overshadowed by such a revered country music icon which is a topic Hank Jr. addressed the next time he reached the singles chart with his own composition “Standing in the Shadows” in 1966. You can hear the weight of carrying the burden in his voice when he sings lines like:

“I know that I'm not great and some say I imitate
Anymore I don't know I'm just doing the best I can
It’s hard standing in the shadows of a very famous man”

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Hank Jr. slowly emerged from the shadow of his father. In 1970, he achieved his first number one hit with “All For the Love of Sunshine” from the soundtrack of the film Kelly’s Heroes. Two years later, he found himself back at the top of the charts with “Eleven Roses.” In 1975, Williams survived a life-threatening fall off of Montana’s Ajax Mountain just months after he completed work on his landmark album Hank Williams and Friends which showed a change in musical direction towards more southern rock sounds for Junior.

After his lengthy recovery and battling various demons, Hank Jr. saw his star rise dramatically during the late 1970s and 1980s with his albums Family Tradition, Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound, Habits Old & New, Rowdy, and The Pressure Is On, just to name a few. Williams began collecting number ones like “Texas Women,” “Dixie on My Mind” and “Born To Boogie” and recorded anthems like “A Country Boy Can Survive” and “All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight” which would later become the opening theme of Monday Night Football and go on to earn him an Emmy Award. Bocephus also became well known for his rowdy shows winning Entertainer of the Year honors from both the Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association multiple times.

Hank Jr.’s most recent project is 2009’s 127 Rose Avenue, which features “Red, White, and Pink Slip Blues.” Today, Bocephus continues to tour recently wrapping up his Rowdy Friends Tour 2010 which also included Jamey Johnson, Eric Church and The Grascals. On June 4, he is set to play BamaJam in Enterprise, Alabama. And, he continues the important Williams legacy with his own distinct, unique style.

Image courtesy of John Shearer / WireImage

Nikita Palmer for Citadel Digital © 2010

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