Heartland -- UPI Arts & Entertainment

NASHVILLE, Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Hank Williams Jr.'s new project is as much about his family's history as it is about new music.

"The Almeria Club and Other Selected Venues" takes the listener on a musical journey, chronicling landmarks from Hank Sr.'s music career in the late 1940s.

In support of the project, which was released Jan. 8, Williams will be featured Feb. 16 and 17 on cable's Country Music Television.

Feb. 16 will be a busy day for Williams, as he will appear on CMT's "Most Wanted Live" prior to his first appearance in two decades on the Grand Ole Opry later that night. On the Feb. 17, Williams and his pal, Kid Rock, will be spotlighted on "CMT Crossroads," a documentary of the people behind the music.

Williams' new project is named after a venue where his parents performed in 1947.

The story goes that while Hank Sr. and his wife, Audrey, were performing one muggy Southern night in Alabama, an irate boyfriend burst into the crowd, looking for a girlfriend who was there with someone she shouldn't have been. As gunshots erupted, the elder Williams and his wife jumped out a backstage window and escaped through the woods.

While visiting the Almeria Club in January 2001, Hank Williams Jr. heard this story from someone who said he had been there that night in 1947. Upon learning the connection between the venue and his parents, Williams decided he wanted to record his new album at this rural Alabama site.

A couple of months later, when his crew traveled to Bullock County, Ala., with recording equipment and additional power in tow, the new project began.

From Alabama, Williams and crew traveled to the Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, La. The Municipal Auditorium had been the home of the Louisiana Hayride, a KWKH radio show known as "The Cradle of the Stars." Hank Sr. joined the Hayride in August 1948, marking the official launch of his career.

Other stops for the project included The Greater Pentecostal Temple in Kansas City, Kan., where "Cross On The Highway" was recorded with Marvin E. Donaldson, the church's bishop.

The album has gotten off to strong start, debuting as the No. 1 most added music at Americana radio, when it was first released to radio in early December 2001.

"The album was a real kick for me, not only musically but from the standpoint of what it represents to my heritage and the ol' family tradition," Williams said. "Had he been here, Hank would've done it this way," he said, referring to his father.

Aside from the historic relevance of the album's settings, Williams is equally proud of the end result of the music, which features a country blues feel with fiddle, banjo, upright piano and slide guitar.

"For me, at the end of the day, it all gets down to the music and the music just came together on this one," Williams said.