Westport, CT - Henry 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.On Saturday, April 5, he will be assuming the role of Verso Visionary in a keynote conversation at VersoFest 2025.
The event will be held at 7 pm in The Westport Library's Trefz Forum. Tickets are $35 and are now available for purchase.
Moderating the conversation with Rollins is fellow author and musician Nabil Ayers. No stranger to the inner workings of the music industry, 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.
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 illustrious career, Rollins has offered an intimate look into his complex mind. His writing spansmore 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 inSons of Anarchy, and has been a columnist and essayist for Stereophile, Rolling Stone Australia, and LA Weekly.
VersoFest 2025 is The Westport Library’s four-day music and media festival and conference taking place Thursday, April 3, through Sunday, April 6. VersoFest provides a forum for media creators, artists, and fans to converge, including panels where experts share their perspective and vision; intimate workshops that provide creators the opportunity to deconstruct, improve, and hone their craft; and performances that entertain and inspire.
Previous years have featured a diverse and eclectic mix of performers and subjects including hip hop legend Chuck D, The Lemon Twigs, Spin Doctors, the Smithereens, Sunflower Bean, Grand Wizzard Theodore (inventor of scratch DJing), producers Steve Lillywhite (U2, Talking Heads, Dave Matthews Band) and Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex), Richard Butler (Psychedelic Furs), Dennis Dunaway (Alice Cooper), John Densmore (the Doors), Miriam Linna (Norton Records, Kicks Books, Kicksville Radio), actor/producer Michael Jai White, Little Steven’s TeachRock Foundation, and much more.
Ticket Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/versofest-visionary-henry-rollins-in-conversation-wnabil-ayers-tickets-1219614593079