Video Exclusive: Kira Roessler Live at the Sardine

We’re excited to share this new clip of bass icon Kira Roessler performing at the Sardine in San Pedro, California, this past September. The former Black Flag bassist, who released her first solo album in 2021, played a set of originals and covers with drummer Dave Bach and her brother Paul Roessler on keys.

Roessler’s sparse compositions center around her slinky, twisting bass lines that express her emotions just as much as her vocals and lyrics. She told us in an interview that being a bass player is her identity.

“I mean, I’ve been playing bass longer than I’ve been a woman, you know? So if you think about it that way, it’s like an extension of myself,” she said. “And so when I have feelings to express or situations to process or whatever, the bass is how I communicate. It’s how I express it. It’s how I get through difficulties or joys. For me, it is the mechanism by which I process life.”

Roessler bolsters her originals in the set with some cool covers, including “Drinkin and Driving” by Black Flag and “Don’t Explain” by jazz singer Billie Holiday.

Set List:

1. What’s Left
2. Worse Than Rude
3. Drinkin and Driving (Black Flag cover)
4. Unsolicited Advice
5. Kill Him
6. The Ghosts
7. Don’t Explain
8. Jim
9. Trance
10. Fun With Needles
11. Let It Go
12. Collapse
13. Peas
14. The People the People
15. In The Quiet
16. Suicide