Charley Crockett Sets The Record Straight On Controversy Over Dropping Satanic Band From Tour
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On July 8, the self-described “Satanic doo-wop” band Twin Temple posted on social media that prolific country artist Charley Crockett dropped them from his tour.
In their statement, Twin Temple alleged that it was their “Satanic imagery” that compelled the country musician to pull them from the schedule.
Since then, Twin Temple has found themselves interviewed by the likes of Rolling Stone and several other trade publications, even gaining the attention of artist Jack White, who asked them to open for him at one of his shows.
Meanwhile, Crockett’s social media posts became flooded with comments regarding the controversy with Twin Temple. At one point, Crockett even shut down all of his social media accounts in mid-July.
Back online, Charley Crockett wrote a new social media post on Tuesday, Aug. 18, claiming that he was misrepresented… and not just by the Satanic band.
Charley Crockett Releases New Statement On Satanic Band Controversy
“I gotta clear this up right quick,” wrote Charley Crockett on social media on Tuesday, Aug. 18. “I never dropped that band from those 2 shows for ‘Satanic Imagery,’ they made it up and dragged me by a rope real good.”
The band in question is, of course, Twin Temple — a band established in 2016 and comprised of married couple Alexandra and Zachary James, who happen to be practicing Satanists.
Detailing how the fallout between him and Twin Temple came about, he noted that it began about a month prior to the scheduled July shows that were slated to see Twin Temple grace the stage as the opener for Crockett.
“Their production requests raised eyebrows simply because we couldn’t accommodate them physically,” Crockett stated. “Then I noticed some of the things they’d been doing on stage and after thinking about it for a couple days I decided to cut em loose.”
He added:
“We told em the vibe just wasn’t right for an all ages audience, and we paid em in full.”
You can see an example of one Twin Temple’s routine acts — which finds Alexandra James spitting “blood” on the audience that she drinks from a goblet — on their social media, here.
Continuing, Crockett alleges that Twin Temple “got together with their business folks and plotted for days before finally making their public statement,” adding that their July 8 post about being dropped from the tour was “designed for effect.”
Twin Temple was only scheduled to open for two shows on Charley Crockett’s ongoing Age of The Ram Tour, and he claims that Twin Temple framed its statement to appear as if they were dropped from an entire tour.
He goes on to describe the post made by Twin Temple as being marked by “dog whistling about religious and creative freedom.”
In their initial July 8 post, Twin Temple said it was because of their “Satanic imagery” that they were removed from the tour, and the band went on to express their appreciation of their “artistic freedom” being respected.
As an aside in his Aug. 18 post, Crockett added, “Of course my rights didn’t matter since they had a new record coming out and a headline tour of their own to announce. It’s my fault, I let ‘em slip through and being that this here’s my outfit, I’m the responsible party. I reacted.”
Acknowledging that hindsight is 20/20, he said, “I might respond differently now.”
When he initially responded in a Facebook post on July 10, Crockett offered no apologies, and proceeded to affirm his belief in God’s soveriengty, writing at the time:
“Dont [sic] believe in any kind of spiritual power? I’m sorry to hear that. God is the fabric that ties all life together. No need to even define or institutionalize it. The entertainment business is chock full of shameless exhibitionists possessed by the desire to be famous and have the public’s adoration.”
Pivoting in his Aug. 18 post, he then turned to how the media covered the controversy, saying, “I think the most difficult part of the whole deal was the way the media, save for one outlet, cared nothing for the truth.”
Claiming that Twin Temple’s image was “sanitized” by the media “for their own uses.”
He also called out artists who he says were in his corner up until the controversy over dropping Twin Temple from his tour hit the press, adding, “I won’t forget that when I was face down in the dirt coughing up blood you applauded.”
Crockett then singled out Jack White, who invited Twin Temple to perform at his upcoming show in Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 29.
“[Jack White] used it to sell tickets too and I lost a lot of respect for him,” Crockett said. “I wonder why he wasn’t so outspoken back when he was in the [White Stripes] 20 something years ago. They purposely avoided political issues.”
Near the end of his post, Crockett continued to call out Jack White, saying that he is now in a position where he doesn’t have to worry about losing his audience for voicing his opinions.
Concluding his post, Crockett wrote, “Funny, I’ve got everything to lose right this minute and I still shoot from the hip. I’ve been speaking from my heart against the wishes of the machine my whole life. Real patriots think for themselves, party be damned.”
As of the afternoon of Aug. 18, Twin Temple has not responded to Charley Crockett’s post.
See his full post, here:
Watch Charley Crockett perform his song “Fastest Gun Alive,” here:
RELATED: Charley Crockett Offers Zero Apologies After Dropping Opening Band Over Satanic Imagery
