Hessian Sessions happen every night at 10PM (Pacific), only on The Retro! What’s a Hessian Session? In its simplest form, our Hessian Sessions are a celebration of hair music, including metal, progressive (lately, dubbed “Prog”), and classic rock. If it rocks, while also sporting some healthy locks and dandruff, it could end up on a Hessian Session. And we play it all! Hessian Sessions are not constrained by thin, self-righteous attitudes about genres, or cares if your a-hole musical purist cousin only likes one type of thrash. Besides, you and I both know his favorite artist is Richard Cheese!
Let’s be Frank, because he tends to be right most times (dad joke), hessian rock, or hair rock, strays the spectrum of what’s considered hard, soft, melodic or whatever adjective you wanna throw at it. Metallica is hessian rock, but they did cut their hair in the late 90’s. Does that mean the Load albums aren’t hessian rock any more? Some would say “absolutely!” Some focus more on the music. It’s subjective.
So what is a hessian then, dirty rockers?
Good question… The term hessian was used in the American Revolutionary War to describe German mercenaries used by the British. It was said they sported the long hair and fought like banshees. And beginning somewhere around the sixties that description was loosely recognized as slang for rock music fans with long hair.
When your hair was long, and your temper was short – Hessian Sessions will bring you back to your rowdy youth, or help you imagine what it was like, every night at 10PM!
Featured Artists
What artists, or types of artists, do we feature on our Hessian Sessions? We encourage a wide variety of music and discussion of what dictates a “Hessian” band or artist. Metallica and Black Sabbath are obvious choices, but would you consider a band like Faith No More in the same “Hair” definition? Maybe. Maybe not. Faith No More saw plenty of airplay, especially their song “Epic”, alongside plenty of Hessian-type rock n’ roll.
But then consider a band like Alice In Chains. Would you consider them a Hessian band? They have long hair, play rock music that’s loud and guitar-driven, and grunge artists even played sold out shows with bands like Van Halen. Alice In Chains even had members of Metallica in the audience when they played and recorded their now-famous MTV Unplugged live album. Mike Ines, AIC’s bassist during the gig even wrote “Friends Don’t Let Friends… Get Friends Haircuts…” -signed J.R..
Is that “Hessian”? The beauty of the Hessian Sessions feature is its subjectivity. In a world of so many choices, why would we limit an on-air music showcase intended to “rediscover” hair rock? So it’s settled. Some nights we’ll play Slayer. Other nights we may play Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. So join us, every single night, 10PM Pacific, for a Hessian Session. You are guaranteed something new, every night. And we take requests too! Hits us up below: