No more tickets are available for the Labor Day Friends of America Rally in Holden.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Hank Williams Jr. doesn't do anything he doesn't want to do.

"I'm going to play when, where and with who I want and for a hell of a lot of money," Williams bristled over the phone. "Just 20 times a year and adios - that's the bottom line right there."

Even over the telephone, Williams is larger than life. He doesn't so much answer questions as growl what's on his mind.

At his level of fame and success, he points out, even doing an interview with a print publication is rare. He doesn't have to. Country music stars don't come any bigger than Hank Williams Jr. He's a legend, and he knows it.

So, Williams wants to be clear about why he's coming to the Friends of America Rally in Logan on Labor Day.

It's not about money, although there should be little doubt that Williams is going to get his share of what might be several million dollars being spent to put the show on. The Friends of America Rally is a pro-coal, pro-conservative, anti-Obama and anti-cap-and-trade legislation "tea party" arranged by Massey Energy.

The man everybody just calls Hank is coming to help heat the water.

Williams has been political for years, and despite the songs about wild ways, drinking and carousing, he's very conservative. The lyrics to some of his songs have long tied into a white, working-class rage against the establishment and rural distaste for urban sensibilities.

"A country boy can survive" has been his rallying cry for decades, but as the singer has grown older, Williams has become more overtly political, more conservative and completely distrustful of most media.

"I listen to Laura Ingram and Mark Levin," he said. "It's the only place you'll hear the truth."

No more tickets are available for the Labor Day Friends of America Rally in Holden.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Hank Williams Jr. doesn't do anything he doesn't want to do.

"I'm going to play when, where and with who I want and for a hell of a lot of money," Williams bristled over the phone. "Just 20 times a year and adios - that's the bottom line right there."

Even over the telephone, Williams is larger than life. He doesn't so much answer questions as growl what's on his mind.

At his level of fame and success, he points out, even doing an interview with a print publication is rare. He doesn't have to. Country music stars don't come any bigger than Hank Williams Jr. He's a legend, and he knows it.

So, Williams wants to be clear about why he's coming to the Friends of America Rally in Logan on Labor Day.

It's not about money, although there should be little doubt that Williams is going to get his share of what might be several million dollars being spent to put the show on. The Friends of America Rally is a pro-coal, pro-conservative, anti-Obama and anti-cap-and-trade legislation "tea party" arranged by Massey Energy.

The man everybody just calls Hank is coming to help heat the water.

Williams has been political for years, and despite the songs about wild ways, drinking and carousing, he's very conservative. The lyrics to some of his songs have long tied into a white, working-class rage against the establishment and rural distaste for urban sensibilities.

"A country boy can survive" has been his rallying cry for decades, but as the singer has grown older, Williams has become more overtly political, more conservative and completely distrustful of most media.

"I listen to Laura Ingram and Mark Levin," he said. "It's the only place you'll hear the truth."

In 2008, he supported Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain's bid for the presidency. He appeared with McCain on the campaign trail, where he sang a revised version of his song "Family Tradition," called "A McCain-Palin Tradition." When the Republicans failed to retain the White House, Williams didn't take it well.

"If it wasn't for the Electoral College, Obama wouldn't be president," he said. "Let's face it. That's the problem right there."

Except, President Obama won the popular vote by a margin of nearly 10.5 million votes. By comparison, in the 2000 presidential election, President Bush won the Electoral College, but Vice President Gore actually had 500,000 more votes.

It hardly matters. Williams doesn't like Democrat politics or politicians. He's furious, and doesn't care who knows.

"This is absolutely the worst administration in our lifetime," he said. "They're in a tailspin. It's August, and I don't know how this guy is going to finish his term. I really don't know."

Williams scoffs at the Obama stimulus package as worthless, thinks the "Cash for Clunkers" program was pointless and absolutely has no faith in health-care reform.

"And let's have health care for a bunch of illegal aliens," he said, irritably. "We're not Italy, and that's what he [Obama] wants us to be."

Still, the health-care debate hasn't been a complete loss for him. Williams says he's enjoyed the coverage of the town hall meetings across the country, where small, angry groups have, on occasion, shouted down senators and congressmen speaking about health-care reform.

He says he loves that the politicians have to run and hide. It's high entertainment.

"I get a lot of enjoyment when I have my evening cigar and listen to these idiots."

While politics and the state of the country are very much on Williams's mind these days (Williams has publicly entertained the idea of running for Senate in 2012), it's not the only thing he's thinking about. He has a new album, "127 Rose Avenue," which he says is one of his best yet. Also, football season is about to start, and he's looking forward to getting out in the woods to hunt doves.

Reach Bill Lynch at ly...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5195.