Hank Fest: Free night of Hank Williams music coming to Montgomery with Chad Fisher

It just feels right to honor a Montgomery music icon's 100th birthday through the talents of another local star — one who has been making his mark for years.

“I’ve just always loved Hank Williams,” said Deatsville native Chad Fisher, who plays trombone for Birmingham-based eight-piece soul band St. Paul & The Broken Bones.

Fisher and his Hank Night Band will perform at 7 p.m. Sept. 16 in the Living Block of Old Alabama Town, 420 Columbus St., Montgomery. It's a free concert, held the day before Hank's actual birthday.

“Come on out, bring a chair and enjoy yourself,” Fisher said. “I hope to see a lot of familiar faces. We’re excited to bring this tradition down to Montgomery.”

Fisher went to Marbury High School, where his love of music began. Like Hank, Fisher started on the path to being a professional musician as a teenager in Montgomery — just with a trombone, instead of a guitar. Fisher played gigs here and learned from longtime players he met. Eventually, his music led him to Birmingham.

“I’ve done the Hank Williams tribute in Birmingham once a year for the past 15 years,” Fisher said.

His “Hank Night” events there are always the evening before New Year’s Eve.

“We did it on Dec. 30, because that’s the night for his last ride that he stopped in Birmingham,” Fisher said.

Hank died on Jan. 1, 1953, at 29 of heart failure while riding in his Cadillac to a scheduled appearance in Canton, Ohio.

Fisher described the Hank show he's bringing as Alabama classic country with a New Orleans flair.

“We’ll have guest singers come up throughout the night,” Fisher said. “We do it very traditional. It’s like the same style that Hank would have played in. The only real difference being that we have horns. We play a little bit of jazz along with it as well, since I’m a trombone player.”

Fisher said the band is full of some of the best talent in Alabama:

• Dick Aven, the saxophonist, plays in Montgomery native country superstar Jamey Johnson’s band.

• John Kulinich plays often for Taylor Hicks, among others, and Fisher said he may be the best electric guitarist in Alabama.

• Allen Stone, also on guitar, may have been heard locally before playing with the Black Jacket Symphony.

• “Early James” James Mullis of Early James and the Latest will be a special guest, and the bassist from that band Adrian Marmolejo is playing for the night also.

"I also hope that longtime Montgomery friends like Sam Williams will make an appearance," Fisher said.

The concert is likely to be packed with oyster enthusiasts. It’s getting started just as the first Montgomery Oyster Festival in Old Alabama Town ends. The Hank concert is being presented by Montgomery’s Department of Cultural Affairs, in association with two of the Oyster Festival’s organizers, The Landmarks Foundation and Lightning Line.

So does Fisher have any favorite Hank songs? He said that’s a loaded question because every song Hanik wrote was great and remain timely today.

“I think probably ‘Lonesome Whistle' is up there for me,” Fisher said. “It’s kind of an archetypal country song that covers all the bases — jail and trains and all of that.”

A week after the Hank concert, Fisher will be setting out with St. Paul & The Broken Bones again as their fall tour through the U.S. and Canada begins in support of their new album “Angels in Science Fiction.” So the timing was just right to bring Hank's music to Montgomery.

“I’ve always been looking for an excuse to do it in Montgomery,” Fisher said. “This is perfect.”

Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel covers things to do in the River Region. Contact him at sheupel@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Chad Fisher to honor Hank Williams' 100th birthday in Old Alabama Town