Covering three generations of Hank Williams, Family Tradition is both unique and vast in scope. Beginning in the present day with Hank III who gave the author unprecedented access and time-traveling across the years, this examines just what kind of rebel mojo inspired this crazed family of country music, from Hank Sr. often regarded as one of the most influential of American musicians to Hank Jr., to this year’s model, Hank III, who has somehow found a way to reconcile his legacy’s deep-rooted twang and high-lonesome sound with particularly searing strains of punk and heavy metal, launching an all-out war with traditional Nashville in the process.
“…Athough there are plenty of Hank Williams bios, [Family Traditions] isn’t supererogatory. Rather than analyze Hank’s music, Masino relates what he did when and who with. No one before her has made Hank’s everyday reality so apparent, including all the time (i.e., most of the time) that he wasn’t drunk.”-Booklist”
[Susan Masino] does a nice job in her swift 256-page reader. Masino picks up on the striking tragedy of each Hank (from Hank Sr.’s destructive addiction to Hank Jr.’s near-fatal mountain fall to Hank III’s admission of being molested by a relative), and she easily segues from Hank to Hank with fluid transitions that trace the family lineage….This is a fine introductory read on the Hank Williams legacy….” -Library Journal Xpress Review