Gary Floyd

by Erik HageBear-like, incendiary frontman Gary Floyd first emerged in the public consciousness with Austin, TX, political punkers the Dicks. The group released fiery albums on SST and Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles labels before their dissolution in 1985. The Dicks had moved to San Francisco at one point, but when they chose to return to Austin, Gary Floyd stayed behind, forming Sister Double Happiness with former Dicks drummer Lynn Perko in 1986. The new group wallowed in furious, blues-tinged hard rock fueled by Floyd's dynamic belting ability. The band sparked enough interest to sign to major-label Reprise for 1991's Heart & Mind. The group broke up in 1995, however, and Floyd moved on to form the Gary Floyd Band, which released the album Broken Angels in 1995. Floyd released the solo effort, Backdoor Preacher Man, in 2000. Early in the new millennium, Floyd hooked up with some Bay Area musicians to form Black Kali Ma (named after a Hindu goddess), a group which continued the punk/blues/hard rock spirit of Floyd's past. Black Kali Ma released their debut, You Ride the Pony I'll Be the Bunny, on Alternative Tentacles in 2000.