Hank Williams: Lost Highway
Interview with Damon Kiely and Matthew Brumlow
by Kelli Marino, dramaturg
KM: Did you have previous knowledge of Hank Williams, his story, his life, and his songs?
DK: I sort of knew Hank Williams, but not that much. I’d heard his music but not studied it.
MB: When I first started working on Hank, I took a trip to the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. I had great conversations with folks about Hank, his life, and his music; I was surprised to hear so many funny stories. It is easy for people to think about sadness with Hank knowing his struggles with the bottle, and the sad songs he wrote and sang with such conviction. His life wasn’t just sadness though. Various band members talked of his sense of humor, his cockiness, the way he could work a crowd, how his legs would get goin’ during a bluesy honky tonk number, the comics he would read, and the jokes he would tell. Those facts are an important part of the story to me…to expose that Hank to people. Yes, he had demons and could be difficult and abusive (to himself and others), but I think he was probably happiest when he was singing to people.