Dan Auerbach's
Easy Eye Sound label and studio specializes in giving blues veterans another shot at cutting something down-and-dirty, and that's precisely what the producer/guitarist does with
Hank Williams, Jr.: he takes
Bocephus all the way back to the blues at the foundation of his music. Working with a band featuring slide guitarist
Kenny Brown, bassist
Eric Deaton, and drummer
Kinney Kimbrough (son of Delta house-rocker
Junior Kimbrough, one of
Auerbach's idols),
Auerbach keeps the session loose, dirty, and greasy, giving
Hank Jr. plenty of space to snarl, boogie, and curse. Yes, the Parental Advisory sticker on
Rich White Honky Blues is earned, but it's impossible to imagine a listener younger than
Auerbach being enticed by this gnarled blues as it's the sound of a cranky old braggart who almost seems annoyed that he can still muster the energy to sing with conviction. Amazingly, that's precisely what
Hank Jr. does on
Rich White Honky Blues. Since he's not quite in the driver's seat here -- it's his show but the Easy Eye Sound crew sets the course and the pace -- the band can settle into a nasty groove and
Hank can sing whatever he wants. Usually, he sings about himself, often in the guise of his invented persona "Thunderhead Hawkins," and while that braggadocio can sometimes be wearying on his country records, it's amusing, even infectious, here thanks to a band who seem to be having a whale of a time getting down with this ornery old git. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
