The Rollins Band will tour this summer to raise money for the defense fund of the West Memphis Three, a trio of teenagers convicted for the murders of three children in northeastern Arkansas a decade ago. The twenty dates will begin on June 1st in Tempe, Arizona.

The tour follows the release of last fall's Rise Above a benefit album that featured Rollins and guest vocalists including Hank Williams III, Iggy Pop, Lemmy Kilmister, Mike Patton, Ice T, Chuck D, Tom Araya and others singing Black Flag songs. For the tour, the Rollins Band will revisit the Black Flag catalog, and share some vocal duties with original Black Flag singer Keith Morris. Rollins also promises several other guests.

This month marked the tenth anniversary of the murders. Three boys -- Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin -- were convicted of the murders nearly a year later, with Echols receiving a death sentence. The release of the HBO documentary Paradise Lost: The Child Murders of Robin Hood Hills offered evidence that the West Memphis Three might be innocent and the victims of faulty investigation and a witch hunt. Echols, Misskelley and Baldwin have been incarcerated since June 1993.

"Due process was not served," Rollins told Rolling Stone. "I think these guys are flat-out innocent and they got screwed. So it's up to me and anybody like me to look at our legal system and go, 'There's human beings involved, so mistakes can be made.' I'm not pointing my finger; it's just that the system needs help. The courts just want cases solved. They say a jury of their peers found them guilty. Sadly, we must take a closer look at this stuff."

All proceeds from the tour will go to the WM3 Defense Fund, which is expected to use some of the money on DNA testing that the WM3's defense couldn't afford at the time of their trials.

Rollins Band tour dates:

6/1: Tempe, AZ, Marquee
6/3: Fort Worth, TX, The Ridglea
6/4: Memphis, The New Daisy
6/5: Atlanta, The Masquerade
6/6: Tampa, FL, The Masquerade
6/7: Boynton Beach, FL, The Ovation
6/9: Orlando, House of Blues
6/11: Charlotte, NC, The Tremont
6/12: Washington, DC, 9:30 Club
6/13: Norfolk, VA, The NorVa
6/14: New York, Irving Plaza
6/15: Boston, The Axis
6/16: Philadelphia, Theater of Living Arts
6/18: Cleveland, Odeon
6/19: Columbus, OH, Newport Music Hall
6/20: Detroit, Harpo's
6/21: Chicago, Vic Theater
6/22: Milwaukee, Eagles Club
6/24: Minneapolis, First Avenue
6/26: Denver, Ogden Theater

ANDREW DANSBY
(May 20, 2003)