Hank_Williams_Irene_Williams

Irene Williams and Hank Williams, via hankwilliams.nl

Marty Stuart played the Kessler Theater Thursday night, and he told a story about visiting Hank Williams’ sister Irene when she lived in Oak Cliff.

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Irene Williams Smith lived in a duplex in Oak Cliff, Stuart said. When he performed a show at Texas Stadium in the ’80s, she invited him over because she said she had something to show him.

Irene’s bio on this fan website describes her as a journalist and music historian who grew up around the music business because of her younger brother Hank. If you’re under 60, you might not know that Marty Stuart is a country musician who hosts a namesake show on RFD-TV. He was a child prodigy who’s been making a living playing country music and bluegrass since he was 12, and he’s also a country music historian.

When he arrived at Irene’s Oak Cliff duplex, she showed him Hank’s hand-written versions of “Cold, Cold Heart” and many other songs. He bought a cache of Hank Williams memorabilia from her, which he’s displayed at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.

Here is a video from Stuart’s Kessler show, in which he’s telling a story about what happened to Irene Williams Smith’s diamonds.