MUSIC NEWS
Roky Erickson takes long road back to ‘True Love’
11/12/2010

from Boston Herald on bostonherald.com

Roky Erickson gets saddled with the “tortured genius” label a lot.

Best known for fronting Texas ’60s psychedelic rock pioneers the 13th Floor Elevators, Erickson had his career derailed by drug use and mental illness. After a ’69 arrest for the possession of a joint, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and committed for three years in a state hospital. In the decades that followed, Erickson’s eccentric output dwindled until he disappeared from the music scene in the ’90s.

But that’s the past.

His present is quite different.

Today, the “tortured genius” label seems both melodramatic and inaccurate. Chatting by phone from his home in Texas, Erickson, 63, says he’s happy to be writing, recording and touring once more. “True Love Cast Out All Evil,” a collaboration with Austin indie band Okkervil River and Erickson’s first album in 14 years, came out in April; Saturday he plays Royale.

“I’ve been playing music and enjoying it,” he said in his gruff-but-friendly Texas drawl. “Sometimes you have to just do what you do and enjoy it and let a higher power worry about the rest. Sometimes you just have to appreciate things as they happen. At times it’s been difficult work, but I enjoy what I do.”

The lost-then-found legend’s comeback has certainly been difficult. But since 2001, when Erickson’s younger brother won guardianship of the singer, his life has been back on track.

Erickson’s health has improved dramatically since he began receiving quality treatment a decade ago. He has reunited with his first wife and son. And he found a kindred artistic spirit in Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff, who produced “True Love Cast Out All Evil.”

Not that Erickson knows Sheff’s music.

“(The band) never did play me one of their songs,” he said, trying to recall their first meeting. “They just told me their name and we got started. But they did a pretty good job of backing me up. They look like a young country band, but they did all right.”

The comeback record bares no resemblance to the howls and fuzz guitar of the Elevators’ signature song, “You’re Gonna Miss Me.” Much

(read full story on bostonherald.com)





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