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The 15th Annual New Year’s Hank-O-Rama

Everynight Charley Crespo
Concerts

Hank-O-Rama
Coney Island Baby
Jan. 1, 2019

    The Lonesome Prairie Dogs presented the 15th annual New Year’s Hank-O-Rama, New York’s longest running musical tribute to Hank Williams, at Coney Island Baby on Jan. 1, 2019. The New York City-based band, led by guitarist/vocalist Steve Strunsky and bassist/vocalist Heidi Lieb, curates the Hank-O-Rama events annually on the anniversary of the country music maverick’s death.

    Sean Kershaw & the New Jack Ramblers interpreted Hank Williams songs for an opening set. After an intermission, the Lonesome Prairie Dogs performed two sets as the house band. Members of the Lonesome Prairie Dogs and local country music artists Travis Whitelaw, Shannon Brown, Monica Falcone, Jack Grace, Cliff Westfall, Tom Clark, Monica Passin, and Lindy Loo Hill sang Williams songs. The Lonesome Prairie Dogs consists of Strunsky, Lieb, lead guitarist Mike Dvorkin, pedal steel player Lenny Kaye, and drummer Jeff Somerstein. Fiddler Greg Holt joined for the evening, as he has for the past several Hank-O-Ramas .

    Born in Mount Olive, Alabama, Hiram King “Hank” Williams recorded 35 singles (five released posthumously) that reached the Top 10 of the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, including 11 that ranked No. 1 (three posthumously). He died at age 29 in the back of his Cadillac en route to a New Year’s Day gig in Canton, Ohio, on Jan. 1, 1953. Despite his short life and recording career, Williams is among the most celebrated and influential popular musicians of the 20th Century, especially in regards to country music. Williams was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame (1961), the Songwriters Hall of Fame (1970), and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1987).

 

Sean Kershaw & the New Jack Ramblers setlist:

  1. Move It on Over (Hank Williams cover)
  2. Settin’ the Woods on Fire (Hank Williams cover)
  3. Honky Tonkin’ (Hank Williams cover)
  4. I Won’t Be Home No More (Hank Williams cover)
  5. Lonesome Whistle (Hank Williams cover)
  6. Tear in My Beer (Hank Williams cover)
  7. My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It (Hank Williams cover)
  8. Lovesick Blues (Hank Williams cover)
  9. I’m Satisfied with You (Hank Williams cover)

 

The Lonesome Prairie Dogs setlist

Set 1:

  1. Lost Highway (Leon Payne cover)
  2. Moanin’ the Blues (Hank Williams cover)
  3. I Can’t Help It (If I’m Still in Love With You) (Hank Williams cover)
  4. The Blues Come Around (Hank Williams cover)
  5. You Win Again (Hank Williams cover, with Travis Whitelaw)
  6. Pills I Took (Those Poor Bastards cover, with Shannon Brown and Travis Whitelaw)
  7. I Want to Live and Love (Hank Williams cover)
  8. Weary Blues From Waitin’ (Hank Williams cover, with Monica Falcone)
  9. Cold Cold Heart (Hank Williams cover)
  10. I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive (Hank Williams cover, with Jack Grace)
  11. You’re Gonna Change (Or I’m Gonna Leave) (Hank Williams cover, with Jack Grace)
  12. Alone and Forsaken (Hank Williams cover)
  13. Honky Tonk Blues (Hank Williams cover, with Cliff Westfall)
  14. I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (Hank Williams cover)
  15. Mind Your Own Business (Hank Williams cover)

 

Set 2:

  1. Long Gone Lonesome Blues (Hank Williams cover)
  2. Wedding Bells (Hank Williams cover, with Tom Clark)
  3. Your Cheatin’ Heart (Hank Williams cover, with Tom Clark)
  4. Ramblin’ Man (Hank Williams cover)
  5. Baby, We’re Really in Love (Hank Williams cover, with Monica Passin)
  6. Cold, Cold Morning
  7. Jambalaya (On the Bayou) (Hank Williams cover)
  8. Luke The Drifter (Lenny Kaye cover, with Lenny Kaye)
  9. Kaw-Liga (Hank Williams cover, with Lindy Loo Hill)
  10. Hey Good Lookin’ (Hank Williams cover, with Lenny L – karaoke raffle winner)
  11. Family Tradition (Hank Williams, Jr. cover)
  12. I Saw the Light (Hank Williams cover, with all performers)