Unknown Hinson

Could you make something that would eclipse Sling Blade?

You never know, but that's sort of an iconic movie. I'd be lucky to have another one come out of me that I'm that proud of because it's something really close to my heart. And it's affected a lot of people.

Is there anything you want to add?

Yeah. I'd like to make The Unknown Hinson into The Known Hinson. He's a guy from North Carolina who's one of my favorite songwriters. He's a rockabilly vampire.

A what?

A rockabilly vampire, and he's hilarious. Go to unknownhinson.com and order his records and his videos. You'll be amazed.


- Sound and Vision Magazine

http://www.steelbender.com/unknownhinson.html


Online audio interview and tunes. - Steelbender.com

May 02, 2006

I don't know that I've ever seen an undead rockabilly act, but Unknown Hinson definitely tops my list. He is like the reanimated spirit of Johnny Cash (in the bad old days) fused with a little bit of Hank Sr., George Jones and Elvis.Musically, Unknown is kind of like Southern Culture on the Skids with the camp factor turned up to 11.

And really, what's not to love about a guy who has some kind of otherworldly footman onstage with him? Those of you who've perused my photos or been to a show know what I'm talking about. When you go to an Unknown show, you are getting an S-H-O-W and that's refreshing.

His first tune, "Silver Platter," had a snake charmer rhythm and it generally made me want to pump my fist, drink moonshine and yell, "woo hoo!" That feeling never left me throughout the evening.

I really did like everything about the show, from the songs ("I Ain't Afraid of Your Husband," "Party Liquor" and "I Make Faces (When I Make Love)" to name a few) to the stage banter, poses and props. Some of the tunes had a bluesy swagger while others were more in a C&W vein. Pretty much all of them had hilarious titles and lyrics, with catchy music to back it up.

During "Pregnant Again," which is even better than it sounds, he pulled out a cap gun and started shooting. At another point his footman brought him a bottle of somethin' somethin' to swig onstage. He also did a version of "I Fought the Law" in which Unknown is the victor. That may be rewriting history but I feel he's laid a good claim.

Some of the songs were downright lascivious in that dirty blues way, only with a disturbing twist. "Fish Camp Woman," anyone? With lyrics like "Baby, I like the way you smell" you cannot go wrong.

- Macon Telegraph

By MATT WEITZ / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

It was a tour through the quirky side of country music Friday night at the comfortably full Granada Theater.

The big draw was North Carolina's Unknown Hinson. If not exactly catapulted to fame by his role as the voice of Early Cuyler on the Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" animated show Squidbillies, he's at the least been gently lobbed into notice.

Early is an unregenerate backwoods maniac with a voice as hillbilly as a Mason jar full of moonshine. Mr. Hinson is a rockabilly madman in the mold of, say, Hasil Adkins with the selfsame voice.

With his wicked widow's peak and mighty sideburns, both of which are a black so deep as to suggest the application of shoe polish, Mr. Hinson looks like the lovechild of Lux Interior and Eddie Munster.

But he's no media concoction. Leading a minimalist trio (him on guitar plus a bassist and a drummer pounding a very basic trap set, he unspoiled a stinging series of Hendrix-like lines that could only come from an able musician.

And there seems to be a lot of Early in Unknown – or is it the other way around? Songs like "I Ain't Afraid of Your Husband," "Peace, Love and Hard Liquor," and "I Make Faces (When I Make Love)" were all bracing antidotes not only for the impending cold but also the generally spiritless music foisted upon citizens by the mainstream music industry.
- Dallas Morning News

by Anthony Davis

This is a tribute to one of the most obscure all-star guitarists, a chart-topping country western music troubadour and humorous, poison-pen lyricist- Unknown Hinson.
Unknown Hinson carries quite a legacy in his website biography. Believe me, he's all that and more.
His appearance at Sticky Fingerz in Little Rock was proof of a legend in the making.
When Unknown Hinson entered stage-left, fans left their seats and crowded the venue's stage before he could manage an introductory chord - and most stayed there standing, alternately mesmerized and shouting. Unknown had 'em where he wanted 'em - where he could see their hands.
Hinson prowled his corner of the universe like a black panther peering at his prey. When performing a stinging lead break, his face contorts into a mask of gritted teeth and lustful energy.
Hinson's dark eyes look through you and past you as if one is but a briefly appearing ghost in his realm.
Meanwhile the bent, greasy notes keep whailing, the ear-piercing solos keep on comin as he unwraps tunes like "Rock and Roll is Straight from Hell". Combining surfer speed licks frim Dick Dale to charming riffs from Chet Atkins or ripping, shredding take-off's in psychedelic rock a la Jimi Hendrix, Hinson has the bases covered.
The sweat poured off his less-than-noble brow and glistened like diamonds on his eyelashes. At some point the amazement fades in to a level of musicianship as a standard unto itself, an expectation too easily taken for granted.
That's when the faux side-burns, pancake makeup, midnight black pompadour, Hinson's whole persona dissolves into the musician known as the Unknown. I don't believe it is meant for us to know the real identity behind the persona.
Unknown Hinson's music and guitar playing is larger than any pretense - mythic in proportion and Paul bunyan-like in its impact.
It was better than I could have imagined.





- Texarkana Gazette

By Eric Waggoner

THE MAN BILLY BOB Thornton called a "hillbilly vampire" is holed up in a Holiday Inn in Colorado, doing God knows what. It sounds quiet where Unknown Hinson is, but things have been known to jump off quickly where the "King" (as Hinson casually refers to himself) is concerned.

One look at North Carolina's Unknown Hinson, and you know he's not the man with whom to mess. Merely the sight of Hinson's getup, Bela Lugosi by way of West Memphis, is enough to slap the smirk off of the toughest ersatz punk. The very occasional concert heckler is quickly treated to Hinson's flash-point temper, as documented on his ferocious Capitol EP, Rock and Roll Is Straight From Hell ("Hey, kiss my ass, hoss! I play what the hell I wanna play, when the hell I wanna play it, you got that? I'm talking to you, big'un!").

To rip off Roger Ebert, Rock and Roll Is Straight From Hell, like all great records, isn't for everyone; only bad records are for everyone. A blend of Dadaist but note-perfect country-western tunes and the occasional "rawk" workout, its only drawback is its maddeningly short running time. But, as they used to crow, every song's a hit: "Love on Command" picks apart honky-tonk's jingo masculinity ("It's un-American for you to act this way"); "I Don't Mind" takes the lovelorn lament of a Faron Young (the King's only admitted idol) to its absurdist, horrifying extreme.

As funny as the Dead Kennedys, as straight-faced as Merle Haggard, Unknown Hinson might have to change his moniker if his record hits like it deserves to. If you're starved for gooder-'n'-hell music, give the King a spin. - Seattle Weekly

Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach

If Country Weekly merged with Famous Monsters of Filmland, the magazine so formed might well focus its first cover feature on Unknown Hinson.

Hinson recently released Rock ’n’ Roll Is Straight From Hell, his major-label debut, and the guitar-driven six-song EP, sincerely or otherwise, embraces the pop lunatic fringe enough to serve as a tonic to the sonic pabulum of most contemporary commercial country. Roughly a year ago, a local magazine named Hinson one of the ten scariest people in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina, and he certainly looks the part on the covers of the new disc: a creature of mutant sideburns, a gimlet eye, and a grin so ghastly that perhaps only professional Irishman Shane MacGowan may more need an orthodontist.

Musically, Hinson plays to the hilt the role of the roadhouse rowdy, the trailer-trash troubadour. But don't let his appearance fool you - his red-hot guitar solos will convince any listener that there is a genius involved in this madness. - Playback

Fathers, lock up your indie films: Unknown Hinson has been set loose on Sundance! Charlotte's own redneck vampire singer will perform at this year's Sundance Film Festival, sharing the stage with none other than Tim Robbins. Robbins, billing himself as Gob Roberts, will perform songs from his film Bob Roberts. The show gets underway the night of Sunday, January 18; the festival itself will run from January 15-25.First, Billy Bob Thornton (whose rave about Unknown's musical prowess was widely quoted this past year); now, Tim Robbins. Given these Tinseltown connections, will Hinson soon be stalking starlets on Hollywood Boulevard? - Creative Loafing

Bill Picture, Staff Writer

The dentally-challenged Southern crooner with the Roy Orbison-like
jet-black pompadour and mutton chops sings kitschy hickabilly that's as much fun as a shotgun wedding or a monster truck rally -- and refreshingly politically incorrect. Gay rights activists and feminists will surely get a kick out of off-color ditties like "I Cleaned Out A Room In My Trailer For You," "Your Man Is Gay" and "Put Out Or Get Out."

"Oh, get a sense of humor!"

- San Francisco Examiner

In a famous 1974 concert review, Jon Landau wrote "I have seen rock and roll's future and its name is Bruce Springsteen." It was one of the last reviews he would ever write because shortly thereafter he became Springsteen's manager. Well, I have just had my Jon Landau moment. I have seen country music's future, and the future is Unknown. Unknown Hinson, that is.
Unknown is the funniest artist to come along since the Austin Lounge Lizards or the Five Chinese Brothers, but where those guys were politically and socially aware, Unknown has only one thing on his mind - the art of love.
Unknown is not a handsome man (he has only two teeth and his face is a composite of all the worst features of Elvis Presley, Richard Nixon and Vlad Dracula), but he is a born romantic. "Polly Urethane" is a touching love song to a blow-up doll ("I'm glad I chose to date you / it didn't take long to inflate you.") He's also brave ("I Ain't Afraid of Your Husband") and gallant ("I Cleaned Out a Room in My Trailer For You") and honest ("I Make Faces When I Make Love".)
If you want a glimpse of music's future, grab up this CD today. And, Unknown, if you need a manager, call me.
- Robert Loy
- Country Standard Time