Editing Hank Williams (section)

===1930s===
[[File:HankWilliams1938-Cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|Williams performing in Montgomery in 1938]]

In July 1937, the Williams and McNeils opened a [[boarding house]] on South Perry Street in downtown Montgomery. It was at this time that Williams decided to change his name informally from Hiram to Hank.{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|pp=19-21}} During the same year, he participated in a talent show at the Empire Theater and won the first prize of US$15 ({{Inflation|US|15|1937|fmt=eq|r=-2|cursign=$}}) singing his first original song "WPA Blues". Williams wrote the lyrics and used the tune of [[Riley Puckett]]'s "Dissatisfied".{{sfn|Koon, George William|2001|p=16}}

He never learned to read music; instead he based his compositions in storytelling and personal experience.{{sfn|Rankin, Allen|1951|p=3C}}
After school and on weekends, Williams sang and played his [[Silvertone (instruments)|Silvertone]] guitar on the sidewalk in front of the [[WLWI (AM)|WSFA]] radio studio.{{sfn|Koon, George William|2001|p=28}} His recent win at the Empire Theater and the street performances caught the attention of WSFA producers who occasionally invited him to perform on air with Dad Crysel's band.{{sfn|Koon, George William|2001|pp=16-17}}

In August 1938, Elonzo Williams was temporarily released from the hospital. He showed up unannounced at the family's home in Montgomery. Lillie was unwilling to let him reclaim his position as the head of the household. Elonzo stayed to celebrate his son's birthday in September before he returned to the medical center in Louisiana.{{sfn|Hemphill, Paul|2005|p=30}}

Williams's successful radio appearances fueled his entry into a music career, and he started his own band for show dates, the [[Drifting Cowboys]]. The original members were guitarist Braxton Schuffert, fiddler Freddie Beach, and upright bass player and comedian Smith "Hezzy" Adair.{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|pp=20-21}} Originally billed as "Hank and Hezzy and the Drifting Cowboys", they frequently appeared as fill-ins at the local dancehall, Thigpen's Log Cabin, just out of Georgiana.{{sfn|Williams, Roger M.|1981|p=37}} The band traveled throughout central and southern Alabama performing in clubs and at private gatherings. Lillie Williams became the Drifting Cowboys' manager. Williams dropped out of school in October 1939 so that he and the Drifting Cowboys could work full-time. Lillie Williams began booking show dates, negotiating prices and driving them to some of their shows.{{sfn|Koon, George William|2001|pp=16-18}} Now free to travel without deference to Williams's schooling, the band could tour as far away as western Georgia and the [[Florida Panhandle]].{{sfn|Escott, Colin|Merritt, George|MacEwen, William|2009|p=24}} The band started playing in theaters before [[film screening|the screening of films]] and later they played in [[honky-tonk]]s. Williams's alcohol use started to become a problem during the tours; on occasion he spent a large part of the show revenues on alcohol. Meanwhile, between tour schedules, Williams returned to Montgomery to host his radio show.{{sfn|Hemphill, Paul|2005|pp=34-37}}