Kevorkian Skull Poets

Kevorkian Skull Poets was a musical improvisation and spoken-word performance group known for their socially conscious and sometimes controversial content. The group included poets Charles Tortorici and Matt Layne, composer Ned Mudd, guitarists Matt Kimbrell and Davey Williams, keyboardist Jim Willet, washtub bassist Craig Legg, and clarinetist Glenn Engstrom. The name of the group made reference to physician Jack Kevorkian who was notorious for assisting suicides.

During Ned Mudd's performance of "f.u.b.a.r. America" during 1996 City Stages at AmSouth-Harbert Plaza, Barry Thomas "got excited" and lit a U.S. flag on fire. Backlash from the demonstration prompted organizers to cancel a scheduled appearance by Kevorkian Skull Poets on the event's Spoken Word Stage. The incident was included in lists of "acts of desecration" read into the public record during U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on a proposed constitutional amendment to limit the freedom of speech.

References

• "Flag Desecration Acts" (April 20–28, 1999), quoted in "Hearing before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 106th Congress".