Singer Allcorn lives the road life in the South
Like his hero Hank Williams, he knows about the club circuit

 
By: John Bordsen - Travel Editor
Date: August 2005
From: Charlotte Observer

NAME: Joey Allcorn, 25, of Columbus, Ga.

OCCUPATION: Singer/guitarist (leader of The Hillbilly Band) whose style is called alt-country or old country: His taste runs to Hank Williams and other '50s legends. Allcorn's vocal styling is Williams spot-on, and he takes the stage wearing a wide-lapel jacket and a white hat.

HOT-ROD FORD AND A 2-DOLLAR BILL: Like the first Hank Williams, Allcorn tours extensively throughout the Southeast. "This year, we've done about 100 gigs in Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Virginia, South Carolina, Louisiana and Mississippi. I enjoy seeing towns and that aspect of travel. But it gets tiring and can wear you out. Sometimes you can't wait to get home, depending on how the shows have been.

"Sometimes we have just two vehicles: our gear in an extended-cab F-150 (pickup), everybody else in my girlfriend's van. Each of us brings one or two bags. I travel pretty light, usually taking two or three stage outfits, a couple pair of blue jeans, a couple of Lucky 13 shirts and my guitars. I take three, all acoustics, to keep me going through two or three hours. I break a lot of strings and switch instruments to keep the show going."

HONKY TONKIN': "Hank would play bars and corner-type dives; there weren't venues like there are now. But almost any place on lower Broad in Nashville, Tenn., has that feel. Go to Robert's Western World there. I've played Tootsie's Orchid Lounge down the street, and I've felt that old vibe there, also.

"My favorite roadhouse type of gig? I like The Hummingbird, in Macon, Ga., though it's kind of too clean. There's the Star Bar in Atlanta. My favorite place is The Jinx, in Savannah, Ga., though it's kind of a punk-rock club. They have a hip-hop night, and then people like us coming through. You have to be that eclectic today. I find myself in a lot more rock venues than country clubs. If you pigeonhole places, you're missing out on a lot of money."

OH, LONESOME ME: "The strangest experience I've had on the road was in Jackson, Miss., on a night it was raining. We were staying in a Holiday Inn in a room facing a parking lot that dipped down. When I woke up, there was 2 inches of water in the room. They gave us the rooms for free, but acted like it was nothing out of the ordinary."

I WON'T BE HOME NO MORE: Hard-living Williams died at age 29, while on the road. No one knows exactly where or how.

"I've been on the road where Hank Williams died. We were going up to Bristol, Va. for a show and we drove about 100 miles up U.S. 11E out of Knoxville specifically for that reason.

"Hank's driver -- Charles Car, age about 18 or 19 -- was taking Hank to Ohio, and got up to about Blaine, Tenn., where he was pulled over. He had tried to pass a truck and almost hit a car head-on. The cop saw Hank in the back and was told Hank had been drinking and was now sleeping. Charles Car followed the cop into Rutledge, Tenn. Hank was probably already dead by this time."

"But he wasn't noticed as being dead until hours later, in Oak Hill, W.Va., at Burdette's Pure Oil Station. Charles asked the guy if there was anything he could do for Hank and he said 'No, he's dead.'"

"A lady just bought that gas station and is in the process of turning it into another Hank Williams Museum."