Roky Erickson

Across a recording career that spanned five decades, Roky Erickson made visionary contributions to psychedelia, garage punk, lo-fi, and even indie folk. Born in Dallas in 1947, Erikson rose to prominence as the teenage howler and guitarist for Austin’s 13th Floor Elevators, whose first two records, 1966’s The Psychedelic Sounds of the 13th Floor Elevators and 1967’s Easter Everywhere, helped launch acid rock. The group disintegrated after a 1969 arrest for marijuana possession landed Erickson in the Texas state hospital system, where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. In spite of his mental health struggles, Erickson eventually re-emerged with a new band christened The Aliens, whose 1981 album The Evil One delivered B-movie horror tales with the raw punk energy of the era. The mid-’80s albums Gremlins Have Pictures and The Holiday Inn Tapes are equally mind-blowing, yet their cryptic lyrics vibrate uneasily with Erickson’s psychic wounds. With his brother Sumner Erickson overseeing his medical treatment beginning in 2001, the outsider icon spent the ensuing years collaborating with bands like Okkervil River and The Black Angels and playing packed shows around the globe before passing away in 2019.