I had a moment backstage with BOBBIE INGRAM, and I asked him where does the name Molly Hatchet come
from? He said that it was derived from a prostitute who would mutilate and decapitate her clients with a
hatchet. Any way you “cut it”…sounds like a Black Widow to me.
Now, I've seen these guys at least a half dozen times, but that was in the late 70's and up to the mid 80's
during their hay day with DANNY JOE BROWN and JIMMY FARRAR—those were the days when Southern Rock
was booming! The band was founded in ‘71 by DAVE HLUBEK. Hlubek has stated that the tragedy of LYNYRD
SKYNYRD opened the door for Molly Hatchet. Truth be told, I couldn't agree more. Some fans of Lynyrd
Skynyrd weren't too happy about this stance—as the perception was that Molly Hatchet was thriving off the
thunder of Lynyrd Skynyrd--considering how tragically those southern boys met their fate in October of ‘77.
Molly Hatchet has been around
for 46 years, with their album
dropping in ‘78, the self-titled
“Molly Hatchet”. The following
year they released “Flirtin' with
Disaster”, and after that, they
took off like a skyrocket with
non-stop touring. With 14
studio albums and 6 live
albums in 39 years under their
belts, there is a double live
release set for this summer. It
will be titled “Live in
Switzerland” and was recorded
in 2015.
As stated, I did get the chance to
hang out with the band just
before they hit the stage at 8
p.m. It was a pleasure to be able
to chat with some real fine
southern folk--especially as we
share the commonality of all
hailing from Florida.
There was a medium crowd on
hand--maybe 400 and some
change--but that didn't matter
to the boys on stage, as you got
hit right between the eyes with
classics like “Dreams I'll Never
See”, “Whiskey Man”, “Flirtin'
with Disaster” and my personal
favorite, “Gator Country”.