Raging Fire w/ The Smoking Flowers

Michael Godsey, Mark Medley, and Les Shields were experienced veterans of Nashville’s original punk and hardcore scene when they met Vanderbilt student Melora Zaner in late 1983. Originally dubbed “Ring of Fire,” their initial look and sound was inspired by radical Americana such as Jason and the Scorchers, the Gun Club, and X. After playing their third show in May 1984 opening for The Cramps at Chicago’s Cabaret-Metro the band spent the summer touring the south and midwest, and in September became Raging Fire.