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Not often does a granddad get to play his kind of music with the grandkids.

Arnold Sheppard is one lucky granddad.

And, there is no place and no time that The Sheppards would rather play music than at the Hank Williams Museum in Montgomery on January 1 and around September 17.

Arnold Sheppard and his grandkids, Morgan, Montana and Wes Brown, love country music and are fans of Hank Williams, Sr.’s music. And, there’s a family connection.

Arnold Sheppard’s grandad and Audrey Sheppard’s grandad were brothers,

“Audrey married Hank so I guess that kind of makes Hank and us a little kin,” Sheppard said.

Kin or not, Arnold Sheppard and his grandkids are dedicated Hank Williams fans and they like playing his music.

“Twice a year, we go up to the Hank Williams Museum and play,” Sheppard said. “On New Year’s Day, the day Hank Williams died in 1953, and, then, around his birthday, September 17. On both of those days, we play at the Oakwood Cemetery Annex in Montgomery and then go over to the Hank Williams Museum and play there with a lot of other bands. Just how long we’ve been playing up there, I don’t know, probably, for me, back to 2005.”

The Sheppards recently played at Hank Williams 99th birthday tribute on Saturday, September 17, 2022.

“The birthday tribute is held on the day closest to his birthday, September 17, 1923,” Sheppard said. “I never got to play with Hank Williams but I did get to play with one of The Drifting Cowboys, Don Helms. In fact, Don Helms signed Morgan and Montana’s guitars the last time we saw him.

“I’m proud the grandkids like country music. They enjoy going to Montgomery to play at the Hank Williams tributes. Hank Williams wasn’t actually family but, in a way, he was. His music is part of all of us, just like it is of a lot of people that like country music. ‘I Saw the Light’ is my favorite. It’s still played in many places and by a lot of people. I think Hank Williams music will be played for a long time.”