Revised 2nd Web Writing

Damn Right, Rebel Proud:

Community, Convergence, and Participatory Culture

Among the Fans of Hank Williams III

Fans of Hank Williams III are a die-hard bunch—you don’t just like his music, you live by it.   The official Hank III website has provided an accepted gathering place for his “Hellbilly” followers to interact with one another through the internet forum known as the Hank III Cussin’ Board.  The growth of this forum, as well as the website as a whole, has led to the strengthening of the Hank III fan community. Fans share media of all kinds, and some have taken participatory culture and community to an indelible extreme—converging flesh, ink, and all things H3, known as “III’s Army of Tattoos.” 

Shelton Hank Williams III was born on December 12, 1972, in Nashville, TN.  The grandson of country legend Hank Williams and son of Hank Williams Jr., Shelton did not immediately follow in the country footsteps of his forebears.  He played in multiple punk and hardcore bands around the southeast, but in 1996 steep child support payments pushed him to sign with Curb Records, a Music City giant that deals mainly in cloying pop country.  Hank III’s music is best branded as neotraditional or outlaw country, psychobilly, and honky-tonk, featuring songs about drinking, drug use, and all-around, good old-fashioned hell-raising.  Hank became increasingly frustrated with the control Curb had over his music, and began using his quickly growing website to sell “F*** Curb” t-shirts that fans eagerly bought up.  He was finally released from contractual obligation with Curb in the spring of 2010.  

Like Hank III, his fans are cut from the same outlaw cloth. The various discussion forums on the Cussin’ Board reflect the specific interests of the “F***ed Up Dysfunctional Hellbilly Family” that tie them together as a community.  There are forums for show announcements, reviews, and discussions about metal and country bands, as well as guitar tabs and lyrics for Hank III’s music.  Musical instruments, gear, and technique are discussed.  Photos, videos, audio recordings, and reviews from Hank III and Assjack shows are posted (Assjack is Hank’s metal band).   Members are encouraged to post photos of themselves, their pets, and where they live.  One of my personal favorites is a forum entitled “Redneck Rides,” all about “muddin’, hot-roddin’, and hot-rod muddin.’”  (For those who aren’t familiar with muddin’, also known as mud bogging, mud racing, mud running, and mud drags, click here).  Sports, hunting, and fishing are delved into.  There is even a “Fightin’” forum, where members, who are cautioned to “enter with a thick skin and plenty of cuss words,” can duke it out over politics, religion, or whatever else makes them ill—anything goes. 

            With 7,735 members, 70,546 total posts, and 2,027 topics, the ever-growing Cussin’ Board has become a participatory multimedia platform that links the Hank III fan body together into a tight-knit community, and in turn links them more closely to Hank himself.   According to Michael Wesch, the web is not just about information, but about “linking people” and “linking people in ways that we’ve never been linked before…in ways that we can’t even predict.”  Without the internet and the Cussin’ Board, it would probably have been impossible to get thousands of Hank III fans in one place to discuss all things Hellbilly.  Sure they will meet up at concerts, but the participatory nature of the internet forum allows members to share thoughts, videos, artwork, recordings, and photos, strengthening the links connecting them. Furthermore, Wesch does not think of media as content or even as tools of communication.  Media forms mediate human relationships, and when media forms change, human relationships change.  The Cussin’ Board has allowed Hank III Hellbillies to form a culture and community of their own making, rather than just being fans that meet up at concerts.

Barry Wellman’s idea of networked individualism jives nicely with Hank III and his fans.  An inversion culture is formed when increasing individuality leads to a need for community, more independence creates stronger relationships, and escalating commercialization makes people long for authenticity.  Hank III, by fighting Curb records and the fluff music of pop country (commercialization), found a more authentic sound for his music that was widely appreciated.  His fan base is made up of independent and individualistic people who appreciate authenticity in their music. His fans then created relationships and a community on Hank III’s website and message board, ala inversion culture.

            Over the years that I’ve visited Hank III’s website, I’ve noticed a growing trend.  People began sending in pictures of their tattoos—which soon became pictures of Hank III tattoos—song titles, his name, his portrait, album artwork, and various other interpretations of all that is Hellbilly.  More and more fans were sending in photos of their Hank III tattoos.  I realize this could be seen as a chicken or the egg argument, but I feel that the posting of these pictures actually provoked more people to get Hank III tattoos.  If you’re a true fan, you mark yourself for life, then post a picture of your tattoo in the Hellbilly Ink forum on the Cussin’ Board, or in III’s Army of Tattoos photo collection.  

This is a rather strange situation of convergence at work.  Digital media, in this case photos of tattoos viewed on a website, specifically Hank III oriented tattoos, inspired people—they left their computers and went to their local tattoo shops, got inked, and started the whole process over again.  This is reminiscent of Henry Jenkins ideas of convergence and participatory culture.  In my mind this trend among fans is participatory culture², going beyond the normal posting and sharing of digital media, whether it is text, videos, or photographs.  Fandom, visual media, the internet, music, and community converge indelibly in the Hank III tattoos of Hellbilly's the world over—a convergence subculture all its own.

Hank III’s official website and the Cussin’ Board have created a platform for his fans to engage in participatory culture and convergence, strengthening their community as a whole and tying them ever closer to Hank III, his music, and their Hellbilly identity.  They truly are damn right and rebel proud.