Hank Williams III Invented a Musical Subgenre

Nowadays, creating new musical genres isn't the easiest task in the world. Even though most music will eventually fall into a subgenre, it can still be distinctive. Consider the musical subgenre known as "cattle core," which is credited to Hank Williams III, the famous Hank Williams' grandson.

African-American blues guitarist Rufus Payne taught the guitar to Williams, who was born and reared in Alabama, in exchange for food or cash. Williams' subsequent musical approach was greatly influenced by Payne, Roy Acuff, and Ernest Tubb. When producers at the neighborhood radio station WSFA in Montgomery hired Williams to sing and host a 15-minute program, Williams' musical career officially got underway. He quit school to focus on his profession and started the Drifting Cowboys support band, which his mother managed. He had issues with the replacements after several of his bandmates were conscripted during World War II, and WSFA cancelled his contract due to his drunkenness.

Williams claims that the result of combining three extremely unrelated genres in one spot is cattle core. It begins with country music, which makes sense for a person named Hank Williams, and then incorporates heavy metal. Unusual but not unprecedented, that combination is undeniably. But cattle auctioneering is the cherry on top. Hank Williams III's 3 Bar Ranch and songs that are unquestionably an acquired taste result from combining the three.

Born: September 17, 1923

Died: January 1, 1953