HANK WILLIAMS III
His first name is actually Shelton, and he's more of a punker than a honky tonker, but the 36-year-old Williams is, indeed, the grandson of country music's immortal Hank. And his daddy is Bocephus himself.
Openly critical of his father, and of contemporary country music in general, Hank III is a scrappy guy who likes things done his way, or no way at all. He's run afoul of his record label (the mighty Curb), which had to issue his Straight to Hell CD with a Parental Advisory sticker (a country music first), and of Wal-Mart, which just plain doesn't like the guy. This Shoreline Ballroom show will be equal parts "hillbilly" music (a sort of hard-knuckle honky tonk) and straight-ahead thrash-style punk from his "other" band, AssJack. Listen & learn: www.hank3.com. 8 p.m. Sunday, July 5 at Shoreline Ballroom. 40 Folly Field Road, Hilton Head Island. Tickets $15 advance, $18 day of show. (843) 842-0358 or www.shorelineballroom.com.
FIRST FRIDAY FOR FOLK MUSIC
Longtime Savannah folksinger Judy Williams appears (for the first time ever) in a duo with her 18-year-old son Zach. Judy and her husband Bob (Zach's daddy) sometimes perform as Cynergy. Also on the bill at the Savannah Folk Music Society's 157th First Friday is bluesy singer/songwriter Drew Gibson, from Falls River, Va. His debut CD, Letterbox, got a short but positive review in USA Today, and he's currently hard at work on the followup. Listen & learn: www.drew-gibson.com. 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 3 at First Presbyterian Church, 520 Washington Ave. Admission $2. (912) 786-6953.
APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION
This long-lived Guns ‘N Roses tribute band pulls out all the stops (musical and visual) to put on the kind of show that Axl, Slash and company were known for in the 1980s and early ‘90s, back when Axl could be counted on to actually show up for gigs. Interestingly, on the Web site (www.notquitegnr.com) the Appetiters says their set lists are drawn from all the classic Guns albums - but nothing from Chinese Democracy, apparently! At 11 p.m. July 4 at the Jinx. $12.
HIDDEN ELEMENT
A high-energy quintet from Alabama, the elements in Hidden Element include a bit of Rage Against the Machine, and other axe-drilling bands like 311 and Incubus. With blisteringly loud guitars and two charismatic lead singers, they've just finished recording a debut CD in Orlando. At Pour Larry's July 3 and 4.
JUNKYARD ANGEL
"Funny how it all seems familiar," singer Scotty Rahn sings during the opening song on Medicine Jar, this Sandfly band's just-out debut CD. Here's why it seems familiar: It's Bob Dylan's "Tombstone Blues," note for note and inflection for inflection, only Rahn's called it "Drive You to Heartbreak" and taken the songwriting credit. That being said, Junkyard Angel is one of the coolest-sounding Americana bands to come out of the Savannah area since the Trainwrecks. There's some great oldschool country riffing, snappy roadhouse lyrics, truckloads of attitude and - on the CD, anyway - utterly fantastic dobro, lap and pedal steel from AJ Adams (he's not in the live band). A band to pay attention to - although they wear their Steve Earle and Jayhawks influences a little too obviously, in my opinion. At Huc-A-Poos (Tybee Island), July 3 and 4.
SANDIA
From Huntsville, Alabama, home of the most notorious prison in the southern United States, comes this self-described avant-garde quartet dedicated to improvisational music - "from jazz-fusion, reggae and funk, to hip-hop, trip-hop, electronic, Latin, metal and progressive rock." Yeah buddy! Also on the bill this night: Isidro (Robinson), another free-wheeling Alabamian who's kind of a one-man experimental guitar beat-box band; and the Savannah bands 9 On Bali and Kalibar. At 10 p.m. July 4 at the Wormhole, $5.
