Hank III riding into House of Blues

"Outlaw country" is a term that, like "alternative rock," has become so overused and misapplied that it no longer designates much of anything.

Seriously, light beer is less watered down.

But if there's a dude anywhere worthy of the designation, it has to be Hank III.

On a single day this past September, the grandson of country pioneer Hank Williams released a trio of albums whose tunes ranged from traditional honky-tonk to warped Cajun jams, far-out duets with fellow square pegs Tom Waits and Les Claypool, guttural punk, thrash metal with auctioneer-style, cattle-call vocals and many other musical left turns.

His dog, Trooper, even gets in on the action at one point.

Live, Hank tends to divide his shows between his idiosyncratic take on country and his bone-abrading metallic side, which is kind of like chasing whiskey with battery acid.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.