Henry Rollins to Open His Vast Punk Rock Archive to the Public

It’s been a busy year for Henry Rollins.

He’s preparing for the release of his new memoir, Bait Dog Boy, arriving March 2, 2027. He also recently unearthed and helped bring a long-buried U.K. Subs demo to light with the release of Demo Kicks. And perhaps most notably, he played a key role in the revival of Vengeance Records, helping bring the Cramps’ Gravest Gravy to life.

As ever, Rollins has remained busy on the speaking circuit, including an appearance with James Spooner, author of It Starts With Anger: A Punk Beginning. An AFROPUNK Ending., at Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, and a conversation with Loudwire Nights host Chuck Armstrong exploring the history behind Gravest Gravy at the Center For Recorded Music in Kansas City.

Keeping his schedule packed, a few weeks ago, Rollins spoke to a class at Vanderbilt University in Nashville as part of a course called “Dangerous Ideas.” Reflecting on the experience in his recently-launched Substack, he wrote, “It was a great time. Hopefully, the students got something out of it. The comments they made were so thoughtful. The whole thing was quite inspiring.”

Around the same time, he helped curate and promote an exhibition at Nashville’s Radar615 gallery celebrating the flyers and posters of musician and artist Alicja Trout. That experience set the stage for Rollins to bring other pieces of music history to the gallery this fall, this time, from his own vast and growing archive and collection.

On Nov. 6-7, Rollins will open part of that archive to the public with Henry Rollins: Cool Evidence — Captured Moments From the Last Century.

The exhibition will be on view at Radar615 Gallery, at 516 Hagan Street in Nashville, from 2-9 p.m. on both Friday, Nov. 6, and Saturday, Nov. 7.

Ahead of the event, Rollins shared what he calls his “low-tech attempt at a press release.” In it, he explains the thinking behind Cool Evidence, expressing the importance of preserving physical artifacts, documenting history and recognizing the extraordinary things people are capable of creating.

Read Rollins’ full announcement for Cool Evidence below.

Hello, Henry Rollins here. I wrote the following in an effort to somehow entice you to come to this event. An incredible amount of time, effort and expenditure has gone into this. I’ve either gotten it extremely right, or catastrophically wrong!

For many years, I’ve been fascinated with historical markers. Physical objects that still remain years after they were created, become irrefutable evidence of time and place. Memories fade and retelling of facts often leads to distortion. However, the genuine article remains unperturbed.

Something I’ve done, which is probably ridiculous, but is quite demonstrative of what’s behind the Cool Evidence exhibit—I’ve anthropomorphized Time. I think Time seeks to obliterate the past and make the future all but completely speculative in an effort to keep us in the present, where it can be the center of attention. This is why carbon-based artifacts turn to dust, and that which came before can completely disappear, unless there are those who choose to be careful and patient guardians of the past. They seek to slow down decay and keep the facts intact. While I don’t consider Time to be my enemy, I’d like to think it considers me a constant and persistent annoyance.

Humans are capable of the worst things the planet has ever endured. I try to focus on the truly great, epically inspired aspects of humanity. Everything in the Cool Evidence exhibit denotes a time and place, be it an event, or just the fraction of a second it takes for a camera to extract an image—forcing a testimony from Time that humans can be exceptional. There’s always an alternative to misery. The Cool Evidence exhibit is the proof.

You could also just say that Cool Evidence is a collection of really interesting items that has taken me decades to assemble, and hopefully those who come to check it out will have a great experience.

On display will be things from the 70s-80s Washington DC music scene, tour posters and photos of Black Flag, the Damned, the Cramps, from Lux and Ivy’s personal collection, Iggy Pop, the Stooges and more.

I’d like to thank Lain York of Radar615 for his unwavering enthusiasm in allowing this project to materialize. When I pitched him on the idea months ago, he didn’t hesitate.

Thanks for reading this,

Henry

Henry Rollins’ Duty, Preserving the Past

In an interview with Chuck Armstrong when Gravest Gravy was first announced, Rollins opened up about his desire to preserve and celebrate the past.

“In my opinion, I have anthropomorphized the past,” he said.

“It is elusive. It wants to get away. It is carbon-based. It wants to disintegrate. It wants to go, ‘No!’ And it wants to dance into the ether and disappear. That’s why a flyer will eventually turn to dust. You can slow that down, but it is eventual. And that’s why there are acid-free environments, that’s why there are HVAC systems and on and on — and I’ve invested mightily in all of that. I’ve preserved my own history, which is of very little interest to me, but it’s the duty. Everyone else’s history is far more interesting to me. That’s what I’ve been doing since 1979.”

Get details on Rollins’ Cool Evidence event here.

Watch Henry Rollins Discuss the Cramps on Loudwire Nights

Listen to Henry Rollins on Loudwire Nights