Visionary psychedelic-rock pioneer Roky Erickson passed away in Austin on Friday, May 31st, at age 71. Since the news broke, many heavy-music artists have paid their respects, notably, Swedish occult-metal juggernaut Ghost, who covered Erickson’s “If You Have Ghosts” with Dave Grohl on 2013’s Grohl-produced If You Have Ghost EP. Today, Chelsea Wolfe — who has been hard at work on a new acoustic album — chimed in with not only words of tribute for Erickson and also a raw, moving rendition of his song “Night of the Vampire.”
“Today I got home from a long drive after hanging out with good friends until 4 in the morning, & learned that Roky had passed,” she wrote on Instagram. “He’s always been one of my favorites, and this song has been on my mind to cover for a while now, so it just seemed right: record it, share it. … thank you Roky, for setting me free.” See the full post below, and Wolfe’s in-the-studio cover above.
