Cause and Effect presents:

Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye: A Trip with Roky Erickson & DJ Miss Kitty

“I’ve gone through three changes- I thought I was a Christian then I was the devil then the third one, where I know who I am you know I feel like I’m an alien.” –Roky Erickson

Today’s Cause & Effect is dedicated to the Evil One, Roger Kynard “Roky” Erickson (July 15, 1947 – May 31, 2019). Founding member and the leader of the 13th Floor Elevators and pioneer of psychedelic rock. When asked in the 60’s to define this new genre, he replied, “It’s where the pyramid meets the eye.” Far out, man.

We’ll take a trip together and discover the humble beginnings of Roky Erickson from his upbringing in Austin, Texas to his mind-expanding awakening in San Francisco in the early 60s. After a few years of intense psychedelic drug experimentation, he was hospitalized in a mental asylum in Rusk, Texas. For the next several decades he struggled with mental health, but finally turned a corner with the help of his younger brother. He made the comeback of a lifetime in the early-mid 2000s, performing and touring regularly before his death in 2019.

Roky Erickson was a beautiful, strange, lost soul who left a mind-altering impression on countless  musicians, mystics, aliens, and teenagers alike. All hail, The Evil One!

Fangs in the dazed moonlight
Blood never touches my lips
A red demon never sips

“I Think of Demons”

by Roky Erickson and the Aliens

Carrie Thornbrugh    Cause and Effect    October 31st, 2020

Posted In: Music, Music Shows

Tags: absurd, HORROR, music, Music show, obscure, outsider, variety, weirdo, WRIR