Rockabilly
Thomas Wayne Hancock III (born May 1, 1965, in Dallas, Texas) better known as Wayne “The Train” Hancock, is an American singer-songwriter. Known as “The King of Juke Joint Swing.”
His influences include Jimmie Rodgers, Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, Hank Thompson, Hank Williams and Hank Snow because they were all in his parents’ record collection.
Throughout his childhood, Hancock moved around seven times because his father worked at various engineering firms around the United States. Shortly after discovering country music, Hancock began writing songs at the age of twelve. Hancock’s vocal style was initially influenced by Hank Williams, and he has been compared to him throughout his career.
At eighteen years old, Hancock won the Wrangler Country Showdown contest. The son of a WWII veteran, Hancock joined the US Marine Corps immediately after winning the contest and was shipped to basic training. Hancock served in the military for four years. During a six-month deployment at Camp Hansen in Okinawa, Japan, he wrote one of his most well known songs, “Cold Lonesome Wind” from Thunderstorms and Neon Signs.
In 1990, Hancock moved to Austin, Texas. In 1994, he met Lubbock, Texas native Joe Ely, a member of the Flatlanders at the Continental Club in Austin. Shortly thereafter, Hancock landed a role in the play Chippy. Jimmie Dales Gilmore of the Flatlanders originally played Hancock’s character Mr. Jukebox. When Gilmore was unable to do the second run of the play, Ely brought Hancock in, saying “This guy sounds just like Hank Williamsd, he’d be perfect.” From there, Hancock joined the cast and went into the studio to record “Thunderstorms and Neon Signs,” for the soundtrack. It was his first recording of the song.
Hancock met Grammy winning producer, pedal steel guitar player, and Lubbock, Texas native, Lloyd Maines when Maines was running sound for Chippy. Maines has produced all of Hancock’s albums, dating back to his 1995 debut, “Thunderstorms and Neon Signs.” The album sold 22,000 copies in the first year. The follow-up was Hancock’s sophomore 1997 album, “That’s What Daddy Wants.”
Hancock gained the nickname The Train because of his marathon length shows, going on for 3, 4, even 5 hours long.