Roky Erickson is a walking miracle and a true inspiration to all human beings.  Starting at age 5, the boy picked up the piano and fell in love with music, moving onto the guitar soon after.  His nonconformist attitude got him in a bit of trouble as he dropped out of high school with one month left before graduation for choosing not to cut his hair.  In 1968, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia upon speaking nonsense at a gig, and since then, his life has been a roller coaster ride in and out of prisons, mental institutions, thoughts of Martian abductions, obsessive mail and letter collecting, and all sorts of other unfortunate mishaps.  He was event sent to a hospital for the criminally insane after having been arrested for possession of one marijuana joint.

After years of spending time with the TVs and radios on at full blast in his house to drown out the voices in his head, Erickson made a comeback that his friends and family thought was impossible. On April 20, 2010, he released True Love Cast Out All Evil, his first album of new material in 14 years. Roky narrates his entire life through this album, lyrically shining light on optimism, true love, and peace.  Along with the pain and loss he portrays in this music, he also sings about hope that has helped him overcome the demons of his past.  This album touched my heart in unbelievable ways and I had no idea that this album would be such a spine chiller.  The man is a poet, as he demonstrates through this album, and we feel with him as he takes us through jail, mental institutions, and the rest of his hardships, as well as his joys and successes.

The music itself is an incredible cross between psychedelic rock with a Western twist, along with melodic blues that’s reminiscent of Johnny Cash, but not quite.  The instrumentals consist of Erickson’s deep, hoarse, emotional voice, along with acoustic and electric guitars, Hammond, pump, and Wurlitzer organs, trumpets, Congas, a Mellotron, a Rhodes and an acoustic piano, a cello, congas, trombones, Saxophones, and violins.  Whether you’re into this style of music or not, you will find yourself feeling awesome about Roky’s success in life and his unstoppable willpower, which is spectacular considering how he pulled himself out of such a deep hole at 63 years old.

It’s albums like these that make me love my job.  It gave me some chills and some smiles; True Love Cast Out All Evil deserves an A in my book.

Michael Kashiktchian

Electronic Frequencies (Wednesdays 10:00PM-2:00AM)