Neil Michael Hagerty

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Neil Hagerty honed his subversive approach to rock over the course of two decades in two of the underground's most prominent bands. In the '80s, he fueled Pussy Galore's anti-rock cacophony and blurred the boundaries between avant-noise and classic rock as one half of Royal Trux in the '90s. Hagerty also made a name for himself as a witty, if somewhat chaotic, satirist with his 1997 book Victory Chimp. Royal Trux's turbulent existence finally ended in early 2001, just before the release of his solo debut Neil Michael Hagerty, which was released by the Trux's longtime label Drag City. Hagerty's solo career proved to be prolific, resulting in 2002's Plays That Good Old Rock and Roll and the following year's The Howling Hex.