12/12/2025
How James R. Smith Met Hank Williams Jr.
The short version is simple: they met through mutual friends.
The long version tells the story of a friendship that shaped both of their lives.
From the mid-1960s until his passing in 2022, James R. Smith kept a second home in Florida. In the early 1970s, he became close friends with a neighbor in Panama City, Dixie Hatfield—a talented DJ and gifted musician. One year, Dixie invited James R. to travel with him to Nashville for a DJ Convention.
At that convention, Dixie introduced him to Merle Kilgore, the well-known musician and songwriter who happened to be an old friend of Hank Williams Jr. Merle later introduced James R. to Hank, and the two hit it off immediately over their shared love of hunting and fishing.
Not long afterward, Hank—frustrated with his management at the time—told James R., “If you can get trucks from one place to another, you can do the same thing with my bus.” Before long, Hank left Nashville and moved in with James R. and his family in Cullman, Alabama.
From there, James R. stepped fully into the entertainment world, managing additional artists and expanding his influence within the music industry.
