Hiram is Hiram King Williams, better known as Hank Williams, and Huddie is Huddie William Ledbetter, better known as Leadbelly. Hiram & Huddie, a winner at the 9th annual Independent Music Awards, is an impressive two-disc tribute album to these legendary American music greats. While they were raised in different times and circumstances and lead very different lives, each man was an innovator and master of his own sound. It is fitting that the musicians who play on this compilation are some of the best contemporary artists in their genre – not everyday names, but what is considered to be the who’s who of alt-country, blues, roots rock, Americana, and folk, each taking a turn and either a Hank Williams song or a Leadbelly one, or both. Contributors include Scott H Biram, Flathead, Wayne Hancock, Jawbone, Bob Log III, John McKelvy, Possessed By Paul James, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, Soda, C.W. Stoneking, Truckstop Honeymoon, Tom VandenAvond, and William Elliott Whitmore. Notable tracks on the “Hiram” disc (Vol. 1,) are “Lost Highway” “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive”, “On the Banks of the Old Pontchartrain”, “Ramblin’ Man”, and “Settin’ the Woods on Fire”. Likewise, standout covers on the “Huddie” disc (Vol. 2) are “Bourgeois Blues”, “Rock Island Line” “Ha, Ha, This Way” and “Bottle Up and Go”. – Written by JFelton
SIMILAR | Scott H. Biram, Wayne “The Train” Hancock, Leadbelly, The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, William Elliott Whitmore, Hank Williams