Formed in Austin, Texas in 1965, The 13th Floor Elevators became one of the preeminent bands of the American psychedelic garage rock scene. Tommy Hall, a student at the University of Texas, recruited members to form the band's lineup after he decided he wanted to explore his new appreciation for LSD and other psychedelic drugs. For its lead singer, the band found Roky Erickson, whose raw vocals perfectly complemented the weird and jangly forays into exploratory blues and off-kilter rock and roll. Members of the band have maintained that anything they did during the group's run in the mid-to-late 1960s, from writing, to recording, to performing, was done under the influence of LSD, perfectly embodying the spirit of the soon to breakout psychedelic scene in San Francisco that The 13th Floor Elevators foreshadowed. The band broke up in 1969, but continues to enjoy reunions, including a stint in 2015 that started off with a headlining slot at that year's Austin Psych Fest.
