Bear-like, incendiary frontman Gary Floyd first emerged in the public consciousness with Austin, Texas political punkers the Dicks. The group released fiery albums on SST and Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles labels before their dissolution in 1985. The Dicks had moved to San Francisco at one point, but when they chose to return to Austin, Gary Floyd stayed behind, forming Sister Double Happiness with former Dicks drummer Lynn Perko in 1986. The new group wallowed in furious, blues-tinged hard rock fueled by Floyd's dynamic belting ability. The band sparked enough interest that they signed to major-label Reprise for 1991's Heart and Mind. The group broke up in 1995, however, and Floyd moved on to form the Gary Floyd Band, which released the album Broken Angels in 1995. Floyd issued the solo effort Backdoor Preacher Man in 2000. Early in the new millennium, he hooked up with some Bay Area musicians to form Black Kali Ma (named after a Hindu goddess), a group which continued the punk/blues/hard rock spirit of Floyd's past. Black Kali Ma released their debut, You Ride the Pony I'll Be the Bunny, on Alternative Tentacles in 2000. Floyd died on May 2, 2024, after suffering congestive heart failure. He was 71. ~ Erik Hage, Rovi