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To hear Brent Cobb tell it, you can draw a line from today’s class of the most celebrated country artists straight back to Shooter Jennings’ debut album, 2005’s Put the O Back in Country. One of the first LPs produced by Dave Cobb, it helped forge relationships between the Grammy-winning producer, Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, Jamey Johnson, and some of Nashville’s best musicians, like guitarists Leroy Powell and Jason “Rowdy” Cope.

“I know for a fact that Jamey heard Shooter’s album and wanted to record an album with Dave,...

Ever since earning six encores at his Grand Ole Opry debut in 1949, Hank Williams has been synonymous with the country music institution. But Williams, who died at 29 in 1953, is not technically a member. In fact, he was unceremoniously fired from the Opry in 1952 after missing a scheduled appearance, a casualty of his heavy drinking.

In 2003, Williams’ grandson Hank Williams III started a campaign to have his grandfather reinstated into the Grand Ole Opry. An online petition garnered more than 65,000 signatures, but Williams remains a former member — a designation that likely won’t change anytime soon.

Update: On June 29, Lifetime announced Zendaya Coleman would no longer play Aaliyah in the biopic referenced in the article below, and that the production was on hold.

Original Post: The recipe for a music biopic should go something like this: Start with a beloved musician; add a string of crowd-pleasing hits; mix in a good dose of backstage drama; hit them with a triumphant and/or fatal finale; roll credits. But actually getting a film into theaters? It’s never been that simple—and as several pending biopics have learned lately, it’s not getting any easier.

For every movie...

The grandson of honky tonk legend Hank Williams says his family's blood runs red, white and blue ... and that's why only a true American should ever play Hank in a movie.Hank Williams III tells TMZ ... producers cookin' up a Hank biopic blew it when they cast British actor Tom Hiddleston to play the legendary country crooner. Hiddleston's best known for his role as Loki in "The Avengers."Hank Sr. -- known for hits like...

Director Jonas Pate has finished casting for his upcoming indie crime drama, Way Down South, with Jack Huston, Emmy Rossum, Nasir Jones and Country music singer Hank Williams III.

The film tells the story of a gambler and small time crook, played by Jack Huston, who steals a Civil War-era sword from a museum to finance his escape from a loan shark who staked him in a losing poker game.

Jonas Pate and twin brother Josh Pate wrote the drama.

Production set to start in New Orleans this spring.

Okay, for real this time:

Alessandra Torresani guest stars on American Horror Story tonight at 10 pm on FX. Here is the synopsis for both Halloween episodes, from THR:

In Part 1, Vivien (Connie Britton) and Ben Harmon (Dylan McDermott) met the house's previous tenants, a gay couple (played by Zachary Quinto and Teddy Sears) obsessed with decorating the home just right for Halloween so the Harmons can unload the property.

In addition, Tate (Evan Peters) and Violet (Taissa Farmiga) inch closer when the couple takes advantage of the old Halloween loophole that all the ghosts come out to walk the streets for the night as they hit the beach for their first official date.Alessandra plays Steph, one of the unwelcome visitors on that date. For previews, go to Sci Fi Mafia.

Ryan Robbins tweets that one of his recent films, Marilyn, will premiere at the Whistler Film Festival, which runs...

Hank Williams Jr. 's son -- Hank Williams III -- doesn't think his father should have opened his mouth about Obama yesterday ... telling TMZ most musicians are "not worthy" of a political discussion. TMZ spoke with HW3 -- and punk rock-meets-country singer -- who tells us, "The only person out there worthy of mixing political views and music is Jello Biafra ." Fyi -- Jello Biafra is the original lead singer of the legendary punk rock...

By Zachary Swickey

It’s hard to imagine what life would be like if your dad was the singer for one of the most successful punk band of all time, but that’s just a day in the life of Joey Armstrong, son of Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong. And somewhat fittingly, the 16-year-old drummer is now ready to follow in his father’s footsteps by forming a punk rock outfit with three of his chums.

Dubbed Emily’s Army — a name derived from two bandmates’ 15-year-old cousin Emily, who was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis — the group's rather sneeringly-titled debut album, Don’t Be a Dick, was produced by none other than Papa Armstrong himself and will be released through his own Adeline Records come June 14th.

"The record has a lot of youthful punk rock attitude. They’re raw," Billie Joe proudly affirmed to Spin, "It’s well-played,...

What did you think of the True Blood season three premiere? We gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

While the show's typical violence, suspense and nudity (hello, Eric's backside!) stood out the most from a solid opening episode, the HBO drama also delivered its share of perfectly-suited songs.

Browse through them in our True Blood music section and check out a sampling from "Pack of Wolves" below:

Powersolo - "Good Behaviour" Acumen Nation - "Pistol Whip Me" Hank Williams III - "Crazed Country Rebel" John Lincoln Wright - "On the Horizon" Stoll Vaughan - "Between You and I"...

Stp's self-titled comeback debuts at a close #2.

By Gil Kaufman

Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers

Photo: Columbia Records

It was a squeaker, but the latest "Glee" soundtrack, Glee: The Music, Volume 3 Showstoppers, will beat back an advance from the reunited Stone Temple Pilots to hold onto the #1 spot on the Billboard 200 for a second consecutive week. Though sales were down more than 50 percent, Showstoppers still moved nearly 63,000 copies, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan.

Just barely behind is the self-titled reunion album from 1990s rockers Stone Temple Pilots, which debuts at #2 on sales of nearly 62,000. At press time, less than 1,400 albums separated the top two discs.

Otherwise it is business as usual in the top 10, with unstoppable teen sensation Justin Bieber climbing up one to #3 with My World 2.0 (50,000), followed by Lady Antebellum's Need You Now (#4, 46,000), Usher's Raymond V. Raymond (#5, 35,000) and Lady Gaga's The Fame,...

We are nearly halfway through the year's new music releases. And it is exactly at this point that the musical line is clearly drawn between art and commerce. Stone Temple Pilots summon the major label gods for a '90s rock makeover, Smashing Pumpkins prove that some things are better left in the '90s, Hank Williams III unleashes his granddaddy's punk spirit, jazz giants Keith Jarrett & Charlie Haden prove that some words are best left unspoken, and soul stirrer Bettye Lavette fights the last battle of the British Invasion on her own turf. Guess who wins? Please press play now, and thank me later. What '90s band would you like see come back in 2010? [Poll] Skip: Stone Temple Pilots, "Stone Temple Pilots" You always know a band is looking to hit the reset button when they release a self-titled album. Scott Weiland...

Jesco White and Hank Williams IIIThe Wild and Wonderful Whites of West VirginiaYou can have Jon and Kate, the Osbournes or the Kardashians. I'll take the Whites of Boone County, West Virginia for pure reality entertainment. Produced by the "Jackass" MTV folks the documentary follows these modern day hillbillies with their bent for crime. They make the Gotti mob look like the Osmonds.  Openly using and selling drugs, milking the government entitlement system and maybe worst of all, giving their kids names like Cheyan and Tylor. Hank Williams III contributes some tunes with "Punch Fight Fuck!" being the appropriate theme song. Downtown CallingDowntown...

Year: 2009

Directors: Julien Nitzberg

IMDb: link

Trailer: link

Review by: cyberhal

Rating: 8 out of 10

The White clan are West Virginia’s most psychotic, fun living, pill popping, gun toting and just plain dangerous family ever. “Boy, this is how we do it hillbilly style” says one of the clan as he blows stuff away with a rifle in the backyard. There are loads of people in the White clan, and I could barely understand their thick Appalachian accents, but I have to tell you, I love these people. A beautiful toxic tonic to the fake drivel that make up the Kardashians. An inspiration to anarchists everywhere, and also to people who think that Ozzy Osbourne turned into a giant pansy. The doc. was the brainchild of Johnny Knoxville of Jackass fame, and MTV stumped up the finance.

You might have already heard of Jesco White, son of the mountain dancing legend D.