Super Unknown

There's a YouTube video on Unknown Hinson's Web site in which the enigmatic pyscho-country guitar badass is being interviewed. Speaking of being onstage, he says, "Just don't bring none of those drum circle sumbitches--'scuse me, hippies—up there with me, 'cause I ain't a-doing none of that jam mess.” It's reason enough to love Hinson, a man who sports blatantly fake sideburns from ear to mouth and whose every other tooth is black. But what really makes Hinson lovable is his hard brand of rockabilly, infused with a genuine country soul and transcendentally rockin' guitar work (this just might be the only man besides Stevie Ray Vaughan to pull off covering Jimi Hendrix). As with any sort of branded performer, it's tough to say where Hinson's persona begins and his true self ends, but one thing's for sure: In character, the string-tie wearing, lecherously leering man embodies both the good and the evil in true roots music, as if Johnny Cash himself sold his soul to the devil. See for yourself Wednesday at the Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville Ave. Tickets are $12 to $15; showtime is 8 p.m. Visit granadatheater.com.
Wed., July 18