Before I Hang is a punk rock band founded in Hattiesburg, Miss. in 1991, and has been performing locally, as well as on the road since then. At this point there is no doubt they are the longest running punk band in the history of the state and its music scene. In that time they’ve played most of the Southeast, and traveled to the West coast.
Founding members Walt Wheat (guitar), and Rev. Dixie Pig (bass) have been playing together for 24 years now. Drummer John Littlejohn and singer Lee Hurst round out the current line-up and are featured on the band’s latest album, released last year, Rock-N-Roll Deathwish.
Before I Hang was relatively unknown outside the state, even though by the mid-nineties the chaotic, high energy shows they played were the stuff of legend locally. Everyone has a story about a Before I Hang show in Hattiesburg. However, in 2000, an internationally known group of bands considered to be the most intense and confrontational in the underground US music scene, the Confederacy of Scum, asked Before I Hang to play their annual Supershow. This was a two-day gathering of all the CoS bands and their fans, which drew people from all across America as well as Europe, Japan, Canada, and Australia. Before I Hang was a hit, and was asked to come back the following year, when they were also inducted into the Confederacy of Scum organization themselves. The next several years saw the BiH fan base increase significantly as labels asked to put out records, and the band played shows with their new CoS pals. This culminated in a deal with Zodiac Killer Records which saw the band release the Mississippi album (2008), sign a distro deal that got the CD stocked in record stores across the country, as well as Tower Records, and an soundtrack appearance in an episode of MTV’s Nitro Circus.
The band continues to record and play shows, most recently going back to the old school method of releasing Rock-n-Roll Deathwish themselves on vinyl, with exclusive download. Before I Hang has no plans of hanging it up any time soon, and is still playing shows, both locally and out of state, has two recording projects coming up, and bassist Rev. Dixie Pig is now also writing for a comic book, Loud, published in New York.
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This article was originally printed in The Local Voice #216 (published November 6, 2014).
To download the PDF of this issue, click here.
