Here’s a question that shouldn’t be complicated: what does a country music promoter do when booking an opening act with song titles like“Lucifer, My Love”and“Let’s Have a Satanic Orgy”? Apparently, Charley Crockett decided the answer was to remove them from the bill entirely.
Twin Temple, a Los Angeles husband-and-wife duo made up of Alexandra James and Zachary James, found themselves cut from a string of Charley Crockett shows scheduled for this month. The band—who’ve built their image around Sixties-sounding doo-wop and rock wrapped in pentagram aesthetics and upside-down crosses—announced the cancellation via Instagram on Wednesday, explaining they were dropped due to their“Satanic imagery.”It’s a move that raises some familiar questions about artistic freedom, tolerance, and just how much musical eclecticism the mainstream country circuit is willing to accommodate.
What makes the pairing puzzling in the first place is how Twin Temple and Crockett even got linked up. Both artists share a common champion in Shooter Jennings, the Grammy-winning producer who helmed Crockett’s recent albums including the newly reissued Clovis and has been an early advocate for Twin Temple. That mutual connection apparently wasn’t enough to bridge their creative differences—or, more accurately, Crockett’s discomfort with Twin Temple’s image.
The band took the rejection in stride, posting that they were“really disappointed”about missing the tour but expressed gratitude“not only of Twin Temple, but more importantly of artistic freedom.”They signed off with a defiant“Hail Satan!”—the kind of closing statement that probably wouldn’t have changed Crockett’s mind anyway.
There’s an ironic silver lining: Twin Temple will open for Danzig this September, including stops in Texas and Tennessee. If there’s a better home for a band that leans into theatrical darkness and genre-bending rock, it’s hard to imagine. In other words, they didn’t just dodge a bad fit—they landed with an audience that actually gets what they’re doing.
About the Author
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.
