And we'll go honky tonkin, honky tonkin......

I guess its no real secret that I love honky tonk music, none of that new Nashville stuff mind you, but real live honkey tonk music, the stuff that Hank Williams and Jimmy Rogers poured from their souls, songs of heartbreaks, fistfights, boozin and loosin'. Country music always reminds me of being young and riding around in my Dads car (the green LTD really was the best) listening to the radio, solid country gold, I'd never admit it at the time, but I always secretly hoped the next song would be Johnny Cash's 3 Feet High and Rising, and really hoped it wouldn't be Kenny Rogers belting out "You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille" (This would inevitably lead to Dad singing 'You picked a fine time to leave me LOOSE WHEEL', hardy har har), but everytime i hear those songs of Merle Haggard, Willie, Waylon, Johnny, Hank, and the west Texas tales of Marty Robbins, it makes me think of my old man.

Now Nashville is cluttered with this American Idolized version of country music, Kid Rock singing country? Give me a break!! 'Honky Tonk Bedonky Donk?? Country rap? What!!??? BLASPHEMERS!!!! BLASPHEMERS!!!! You people have no business in Nashville, oh wait thats right, everything is business in Nashville now. "Welcome to the Nortel / Coca Cola / Microsoft, Grand Ole Opry! (brought to you by Ford Trucks, 'Built Ford tough!!')"

Now I know this all sounds bitter, but there is a saving grace. Several area bands took the call to save this precious artform, and for years have been belting out classic honky tonk the old fashion way, with no money and lots of beer, folks like Caitlen Carey, Two Dollar Pistols, Whiskeytown, Tift Merrit and Hank Sinatra bring back true country roots with a punk rock Do It Yourself ethic that has no match. Take that Nashville, welcome to North Carolina, pull up a chair we'll show you how its done.

Our good friends in Hank Sinatra will be playing their last show on December 8th at the Local 506 in Chapel Hill, billed as "The Showdown at the Hoedown" this is bound to be a great show, with Two Dollar Pistols and a reunited Backsliders to boot.
I've had the privelage of doing all of Hank Sin's posters over the past year, Jeffro and the guys give me free reign to do whatever I want to and its given me a chance to flex some creative muscle and for that I'm grateful. So I did this poster as a last hurrah for them, Hank Williams redefined, I like to think its a statement on country music today, the mainstream killed it, but it still lives on in some sort of weird twisted punk rock way.. (ain't that deep?)

you can see the rest of the poster on this page, right underneath the photos: http://www.hank-sinatra.com/index.cfm