Verso Visionary: Henry Rollins, Black Flag Frontman and Spoken Word Artist, in Conversation with Nabil Ayers
Saturday, April 5 at 7 pm | Trefz Forum | $35
Henry Rollins — musician, spoken word artist, and one of the forerunners of the hardcore punk scene — will be the Verso Visionary conversation during Saturday night of VersoFest 2025, in conversation with fellow author and musician Nabil Ayers.
Rollins has held many titles in the past 45 years: singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, producer, radio host, and outspoken frontman for Black Flag and the Rollins Band. After achieving international renown with the seminal punk band Black Flag in the early 1980s, Rollins established his own record label and publishing company, 2.13.61, through which he released an array of books and his acclaimed spoken word albums.
Throughout his career, Rollins has offered an intimate look into his complex mind. His writing spans more than 25 titles, including Get in the Van, his memoir composed of journal entries from his time with Black Flag; the cathartic and brutally honest Solipsist; the raw psyche of Sic; his Black Coffee Blues trilogy, which serves as a cross between poetry anthology, memoir, and travel diary; and many more.
Rollins also has hosted a number of radio shows, including the weekly show he currently hosts on L.A.’s renowned NPR affiliate KCRW. He has also appeared as an actor in TV and movies, including a recurring role in Sons of Anarchy, and has been a columnist and essayist for Stereophile, Rolling Stone Australia, and LA Weekly.
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No stranger to the inner workings of the music industry, Nabil Ayers comes from a background of recording and touring globally as a drummer in several bands. He has held the position of president of record label Beggars Group US since 2022.
Ayers also hosts Identified, a podcast about exploring family dynamics, and has contributed to the New York Times, The Guardian, and GQ on topics of family, race, and music. In 2022, he published his memoir My Life in the Sunshine, which explores his journey to connect with his father, jazz musician Roy Ayers.
