What do you do when you're descended from legend? You may inherit the looks but not the talent. So I approached Hank Williams III's UK debut with my expectations muffled by suspicion that he was exploiting his grandfather's reputation. The original Hank became an instant legend when he died in the back of his Cadillac in 1953, drowned in booze and painkilling pills, still cradling his guitar. He was 29, only three years older than his grandson now. When Hank III appears, all thoughts of a hefty guy in a sparkly suit disappear. For fronting the four-piece Damn Band is an eerie reincarnation, lean, sunken-cheeked and hollow-eyed - the image, in fact, of grandpa. A skull tattoo declaring "Risin' Outlaw" flares over his arm -which would be laughable if it weren't for the intensity of his performance, the face as gaunt white as a freeway moon, and the fact that he has inherited his grandfather's voice. The effect is spooky, the cut-glass hard drawl and the high yodel scything through a vast three-hour set of hardcore country. And there is true emotion here, far removed from the saccharine glaze of theme-park Nashville. He reportedly forsook punk and thrash metal and hooked his trailer to the lucrative country wagon because he has child support payments to make, which is about as country as you can get. The set is mostly made up of new numbers, although he introduces a batch of his grandfather's songs with a wry smile and a certain reluctance, his high lonesome wail making it all work despite his evident doubts. The Damn Band are a tight, driving unit, bouncing with stand-up bass and shivering with steel-guitar slides, pushing Williams close to spontaneous combustion in a hyper-fast Cocaine Blues. Shelton Hank Williams III just can't help but be caught in the stormy slipstream of his illustrious forebear. But the talent is filtering through in a rush of punk-country adrenaline. A hypnotic and faintly disturbing performance from a boy picking at his heritage like a scab, equally cursed and blessed.
•Hank Williams III plays the Glastonbury festival tomorrow
