The rollicking Hank Williams Jr.’s Rowdy Friends Tour is rolling into town this weekend — courtesy of the American Freedom Festival — and fans can expect a smorgasbord of sounds.
Although the tour has an ever-changing lineup, the one constant is that the event is a high-energy showcase of some of the best country out there. Although Hank normally declines interviews, his “rowdy friends” say he’s a down-home guy who always enjoys putting on top-rated shows.
“He is easily one of the most fun guys to tour with,” Eric Church said of Williams. “He’s a super talented guy and he has one of the hardest-working bands ever behind him. I love that spirit.”
The son of the legendary Hank Williams not only emerged from his father’s enormous shadow and created his own space in country music. As the voice of the common man, Williams Jr. is known for such songs as “All My Rowdy Friends,” “Old Habits” and “A Country Boy Can Survive.”
He also lived the life, battling demons and recovering from a broken marriage to continue to create his own music.
A recent review in the Birmingham (Ala.) News noted Williams’ show is “equal parts swagger, bombast and attitude … [and Williams] then adds countless declarations of his country heritage and his father’s name.”
Jamey Johnson is one of the performers who will join Williams at the Fairfax show. Calling him “unabashedly pure country,” the Birmingham critic noted that Johnson delivers “pedal steel and blistering rock riffs. If Johnson had been the only act on the bill, the night would have easily earned five stars.”
That’s not surprising when you consider Johnson’s new 25-track double album, “The Guitar Song,” has receive critical acclaim and debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart and No. 4 on the Billboard 200.
Johnson also recently teamed with actor Matthew McConaughey — the two met in 2009 when Johnson won the Academy of Country Music Award for Song of the Year for “In Color” — to film the video for Johnson’s song “Playing the Part.” Although McConaughey was only slated for a cameo role, he became the director of the video.
“With a lot of artists, their art is one thing and they’re another, but there is no separation between Jamey’s music and him,” McConaughey told the Los Angeles Times. “Jamey doesn’t perform, he’s just who he is. His music is about real life: hard, honest and funny.”
