His real name is Danny Baker, but that's not who we spoke to last week. Unknown Hinson, however, was more than happy to talk. Hinson, the carefully constructed Andy Kaufman-esque alter ego of one Stuart Daniel Baker, is part psychobilly star, part voice actor for Adult Swim's Squidbillies, and a whole lot of crazy. His backstory, his ballads (see "I Cleaned Out A Room In My Trailer For You") and his vampiric teeth have together been cultivating a cult following around the country, particularly here in Atlanta (or 'Methlanta, as Hinson's hick squid character Early Cuyler fondly refers to it). The day before his raucous, sweaty, nearly three-hour-long set at the Earl, we spent a few minutes on the phone chatting with Hinson about life (with bad teeth), love (with the womerns of Atlanta), and his years spent as a carnival sideshow attraction.

SCOUT: Hello there, Mr. Hinson. Are you familiar with Scoutmob?
HINSON: No ma'am, I don't really get on the interstates too much. I got nothing' against it, but I just don't fool with it myself. I'm not too good with technical thangs.

SCOUT: Why don't you introduce yourself?
HINSON: Well, I'm Unknown Hinson, and I'm the king of country-western troubadours. I go out on the road and play, and sing, and pick guitar and sing my songs. I write all my songs from real-life experiences based on things I've either lived through or seen with my own eyes. I got out six CDs, workin' on another right now, and I been touring since I got out of prison in 1993.

SCOUT: What were you in prison for?
HINSON: Well, it was a pretty long rap sheet, actually. But the good thing is, all the charges was dropped because a person come forward after seeing a story in the newspaper 30 years later and signed a sworn affidavit that got me off. So I spent thirty years in there for nothin'. But I ain't bitter about it, because I did have time to write songs. A writer needs solitude -- you know, you're a writer, right?

SCOUT: I am, but I'm not sure I'd need 30 years of solitude in jail.
HINSON: Well, there's some other good things about it too, you know. I did learn how to read and write in there. And like I said, I had plenty of time to polish my craft as a guitar player and singer.

SCOUT: What are some of your favorite chart-toppers?
HINSON: It's hard for me to pick a favorite, really. I like singing every one of 'em. It's up to other folks to judge. I ain't got no favorites, I like to do 'em all.

SCOUT: Favorite spots in Atlanta?
HINSON: Usually if I got a little bit of time to kill, there's a bar downtown at some hotel called the Trader Vic's. I like to go there, been there a couple times.

SCOUT: They make a mean mai-tai there.
HINSON: That's what I hear. But I don't drink nothin' but party liquor. They got some good entertainment there, though.

SCOUT: Who does your hair?
HINSON: Me. Yes ma'am, I ain't got no makeup artist. I do all my makeup and hair myself.

SCOUT: I ask because you have some pretty impressive sideburns that look like they might require some upkeep.
HINSON: Well, you know, I wore 'em for years, but I gave 'em up. I really did. I gave up the sideburns. It's a long story.

SCOUT: We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to .
HINSON: Well it ain't nothin' bad, it's just, I don't know, slightly embarrassing. It's like this. All right, I'll tell you. I'll put it simply, she said [CENSORED.]

SCOUT: Oh, my.
HINSON: You asked me and I told you!

SCOUT: Wow. Well, I appreciate your honesty. So what are some of your favorite places to take a lady here in Atlanta?
HINSON: Well, I don't eat no solid foods. You might could tell from my dental affliction.

SCOUT: And that's a calcium deficiency?
HINSON: That, and I think just genes. My momma, she was like that. When I was a really young fellar, I had a full set of adult teeth, but they didn't last that long. They didn't last that long. That's how I got my job in the carnival when I was a boy. See, my momma, she disappeared when I was ten years old. So I run away from home and joined a carnival. And the man who run the carnival, he seen that I don't look normal, that I looked slightly different, to put it mildly. So he gave me a job in his sideshow, and that's how I got into show business right there. He practically raised me from the time I was ten year old till I was 21.

SCOUT: You still keep in touch?
HINSON: Naw, I was going to get to that. The fellar who owned the carnival, he was like my guardian, really. He was murdered and some people had me set up and framed for his murder, and that's how I got in trouble. They trumped up all these charges on me, including his death, and sentenced me to thirty years. I'm trying to make up for lost time, you know?

SCOUT: Tell us a little about what you do with Squidbillies.
HINSON: Squidbillies is a lot of fun, sure is. We're in the fifth season on Adult Swim and we're working on season six. I love working with the people at Williams Street; they give me a lot of room to improvise my lines in the script.

SCOUT: Yeah, we saw some behind-the-scenes video of you in the studio. Seems like you're a bit of a wild card.
HINSON: Well, you know, I reckon some of them folks is young, and they busy on their computers and whatnot, but I just like to have fun when I go somewheres.

SCOUT: Is that why you carry your little .38 around?
HINSON: Well now, the .38, I don't never shoot at nobody, darlin'. I never done that and I never would do that. For me, shootin' my piece is kinda like a stress reliever to me. I just like the sound of it. You know how some people will squeeze a tennis ball to release stress? Kinda one of them things. I like to squeeze the trigger of a .38. It relieves stress for me.

SCOUT: Does that help you out before a show?
HINSON: Sometimes I can't fire it till I get out onstage. Might hit somebody backstage. Gotta check my ammo and make sure I got plenty. But like I said, I never shoot at nobody. My parole officer, he warned me about that.

SCOUT: Yeah, that's probably not something you want to anger your parole officer with.
Hinson: No, ma'am. That's off-limits, right there.

SCOUT: So what are you working on, music-wise for us right now?
HINSON: Got a new CD coming out, just in time for Christmas time. Fresh batch of chart-toppers. Can't tell you the name of the album, I don't wanna blow the surprise. I ain't trying to evade your question, my management just don't want me to give out the title just yet. It'll be released in time for Christmas season, you know how people give each other records for Christmas, so if you lookin' for someone who likes to have records, they might be interested in Unknown's new CD album.

SCOUT: Any last words about our good ol' city of Atlanta?
HINSON: As always, Atlanta's got some of the most beautiful womerns I ever seen in my life. I love 'em all.