Country music legend and American icon Hank Williams Jr. will take on the Central Coast Aug. 4 at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez.

Williams, known for his musical creativity and unwavering personal convictions, has a career speckled with his own country music hits, and the “Jr.” on the end of his name brings his legendary father to mind nearly every time it’s spoken.

That’s not to say Williams Jr. has been unable to outlive his father’s shadow.

Williams Jr. was born Randall Hank, on May 26, 1949, one month before his father, Hank Williams Sr., made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry.

That debut, prompted by the unexpected success of “Lovesick Blues,” brought Williams Sr. the fame he is remembered for. But within two years of his Opry debut, his self-destructive ways brought his personal life and his career to a screeching halt. Williams died in 1953 at age 29.

The younger Williams — who was nicknamed “Bocephus” by his father after the ventriloquist dummy used by country comedian Rod Brasfield — wasted no time in continuing his father’s legacy. With his mother’s encouragement, he debuted at the Grand Ole Opry at age 11 as Hank Williams Jr., and recorded his first album, a rendition of his father’s “Long Gone Lonesome Blues,” at 14.

Throughout the 1960s he continued to draw from his father’s musical legacy, but in the early 1970s he adopted his own persona, his now-trademark Southern rock side, perhaps first heard in his 1975 album “Hank Williams Jr. and Friends.”

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Albums that followed included 1979’s “Family Tradition,” which referenced his famous father, and the 1980s included radio hits like “Texas Women,” “Dixie on My Mind,” “All My Rowdy Friends (Have Settled Down),” “A Country Boy Can Survive” and “Born to Boogie.”

Williams Jr. was awarded the Country Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year award in 1987 and 1988, and he received a Grammy for “There’s a Tear in My Beer,” a duet with his father, made possible by borrowing his vocals from a vinyl record.

Throughout his career, Williams Jr. has further etched himself into the American psyche by involving himself in the same facets of pop culture his fans appreciate.

For example, in the early 1990s, he became the face of ABC’s Monday Night football, kicking off the televised broadcasts by belting out the recognizable “Are you ready for some football?” motto. That stint also made him the first country music artist to ever win an Emmy, which happened three years in a row.

And while his musical creativity and abilities are much appreciated, it’s likely Hank Williams Jr.’s ability to relate to the common man that will draw fans to see his show Aug. 4 at the Chumash.

“I have the most loyal, hard-core fans that there is,” a no-nonsense Hank Williams Jr. said in a July 21 interview with the Santa Maria Times.

Those loyal fans are just who Williams expects to see at the Chumash, one stop on his summer tour.

“I’m gonna tell you just like it is,” Williams said, echoing the persona that comes across in many of his songs. “I don’t beat around the bush.”

That goes for his show, too, he said. He warned fans that if they are coming to see Bocephus (the nickname bestowed on him by his famous father), “he’s gonna do what he wants to do,” he said, speaking in the third person.

“If you wanna see a reincarnation of my father, don’t come and see me,” he said. “They’re gonna see what I do.”

Williams’ Chumash show will be one of approximately 25 he does each year, and he said the small venue is the same to him as the bigger stadiums he’s played. Both pay big money, he added.

Williams said that — considering he’s put out around 100 albums since 1964, and that his fan base ranges in age from 13 to 76 — it’s not easy to choose what will be played at each show, and it’s not something he decides too far in advance. He compared working the audience during a show to a quarterback looking down the field to see who’s open.

“I love it,” he said of playing shows in California, adding that hasn’t always been the case. In fact, he said, he hadn’t toured in California in nearly 15 years, until last year, when he decided to give it a try. He “hit several home runs,” he said, and therefore is returning to the state this summer.

Williams said he complained about traveling to the northern California resort town of Clear Lake, for his first show here last year. He didn’t think the time and effort it took to get there would be worth it, especially since he wasn’t expecting to see his usual loyal fan base awaiting him.

He found out he was wrong. The helicopter landed to groups of screaming fans, holding signs that read, “We love you,” and “This is Bocephus Country.”

“Those fans, they were just as rabid as Atlanta,” Williams said. “It was out of this world.”

He expects to see the same on this trip through California. And for his part, he’s confident his show will satisfy those rabid fans.

“It’ll be the real thing,” he said.

Emily Welly can be reached at 739-2220 or ewelly@santamaria times.com.