\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div> \t\t\t\t\tArtifacts from Henry Rollins\u2019 \u201cCool Evidence\u201d exhibit, on display in Nashville.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDaniel Kohn<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tThe Black Flag singer and leader of Rollins Band developed an appreciation for collecting as a teen in Washington, D.C., with his friend Ian MacKaye, future singer for Minor Threat\/Fugazi and co-proprietor of Dischord Records. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to mythologize myself, but we\u2019re these two last good men standing, in that we don\u2019t lie. We don\u2019t rip you off,\u201d Rollins, clad in a black shirt, black Dickies work pants, and white On Cloud sneakers, says. \u201cWe can finish a sentence because we never got high, and we\u2019re not dead yet.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n \n\tWhile putting up flyers as a teen for MacKaye\u2019s band Teen Idles, they witnessed someone tear one down. Rollins says he felt as if the vandal was \u201ctrying to erase our history,\u201d so he started keeping three of everything: copied cassette tapes, Bad Brains flyers, set lists. \u201cWhat, you\u2019re not <\/em>going to take that?\u201d he asks, incredulously.<\/p>\n \n\tAs his reputation as a historian grew, Rollins, who describes himself as a \u201cstuff person,\u201d became the archivist for others, including the Cramps, which led him and MacKaye to unearth the punk-rockabilly band\u2019s 1977 shelved album, produced by Alex Chilton. \u201cCool Evidence\u201d prominently features the Cramps, via a busted drumhead, a handwritten sign for the group\u2019s show at the Marquee in London, and assorted posters.<\/p>\n \n\tAll of the artifacts that adorn the walls are encased in plexi-archival framing, which, according to Rollins, will last 100 years. But the framing, done locally, wasn\u2019t cheap: Rollins estimates the whole endeavor will cost him six figures. \u201c[The framers] see me and they\u2019re like, \u2018Oh my God, turkey dinner,’\u201d he jokes. \u201cBut it feels vulgar to talk about money.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe exhibit includes distinct sections that pay tribute to Rollins\u2019 own history with punk, namely Black Flag, which he joined in 1981. There\u2019s a photo of the band when they were called Panic and featured Keith Morris on vocals, along with a few original Raymond Pettibon drawings. But it\u2019s the Stooges section<\/a> that\u2019s the most fascinating, thanks to Rollins\u2019 status as the preeminent collector of the band\u2019s items. \u201cThere\u2019s hardly anything you can get now because no Stooges fan gets anything. It\u2019s from my cold dead hands,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tA poster advertising a gig by Minor Threat, part of Henry Rollins\u2019 punk-rock exhibit in Nashville.<\/span><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDaniel Kohn<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \n\tIn the exhibit, Polaroids and other items obtained from Michael Tipton \u2014\u00a0who recorded the Stooges\u2019 1976 live album Metallic K.O., <\/em>the masters of which Rollins now owns and wants to re-release \u2014\u00a0are on display. There\u2019s an extremely rare photo of Pop putting on makeup before a 1968 show in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the only time the Stooges singer did so. Out-of-focus images of the band from Tipton in the early Seventies are also on display. \u201cWho gets backstage with the Stooges while Iggy\u2019s getting his hair together with an Aquanet?\u201d Rollins says.<\/p>\n \n\tSeeing the exhibit come to life, and as organized as it is, is exactly what Rollins dreamed up while running on a gym treadmill years ago. \u201cI\u2019ve been thinking of this for years, and now I get to see what my idea looks like in the physical world,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019ll take me probably another three years to figure out if this will work or not. I think the ingredients are awesome.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tAs for what\u2019s next, Rollins says he\u2019s done performing music. \u201cI\u2019m not going out to do the first album again. I\u2019ll have a heart attack,\u201d he says. \u201cFour wheezing men onstage \u2013 it\u2019s pathetic.\u201d He has a book coming out next March, which will take up most of 2027, and he may start teaching a class at Vanderbilt University.<\/p>\n\n
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