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Had things gone a little differently, Patrick Wilson might have chosen Charles Monroe as his stage name.

Wilson, who goes by the performing moniker Mr. Hank Sinatra, wanted to play off of shock-rocker Marilyn Manson’s combination of names. Fortunately, Charles Monroe — taken, like that of the aforementioned shock-rocker, from serial killer Charles Manson and model/movie star Marilyn Monroe — just didn’t sound right rolling off of Wilson’s tongue.

“I ended up just trying to find two artists that I liked, and I don’t think you can get much better than Hank Williams and Frank Sinatra,” Wilson told The Daily Times this week.

Wilson, 24, is a relative newcomer to the languid, acoustic-based country-folk that he’ll bring to The Corner Lounge on Thursday, but he’s no stranger to the local music scene. He was first introduced to music through visits to his grandmother’s house in North Carolina, where she kept a 3-string banjo in the back bedroom.

“I was about 9 or 10 years old, and I didn’t have any instruments, but eventually my grandmother just gave me that banjo,” Wilson said. “I took it home and would play it; my brother was in the marching band, and I would get him to play snare.”

Over time, Wilson discovered rock ‘n’ roll and drifted toward punk. A love affair with skateboarding and such bands as Bad Religion, NOFX, Rancid and Minor Threat began, and Wilson soon found himself caught up in the Knoxville punk scene. (His longest stint was with the local band Glass Joe.)

However, three years ago, he became a father. Playing electric guitar didn’t agree with the sleep schedule of his newborn, so Wilson found himself drawn back to the acoustic music he fell in love with as a kid. Since then, he’s penned a number of original tunes and given an acoustic, folky treatment to such covers as Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

“I would pick up the acoustic guitar after my son went to bed, and eventually, I just sort of grew out of my punk phase,” he said. “I think part of it was just growing up. The lyrical content of teen angst and fighting your parents and how they hold you down sort of changed when I became a parent. Instead of fighting the man, I became the man, and because I wasn’t going out drinking and partying any more, a lot of that came out in my music.”

Eventually, he and his child’s mother parted ways; ugliness ensued, and Wilson ended up with sole custody of his son. He credits the 3-year-old with changing not only his social habits, but his entire worldview.

“When I was playing punk, I only wrote about fighting the system or the girl that broke my heart,” he said. “Now, I’m writing about my experiences — going to court, being in custody cases, taking care of my son on my own and being a good example to him.

“My son actually inspires me a lot. I actually find myself writing three or four songs, pretty much directly to him. I’d like for him to go back when he’s 18 and listen to what I’ve written. I feel like I have the job now to prepare him for life. Before, I was only concerned for myself. He gives life a whole different meaning.”