Molly Hatchet Rocks The Suffolk

Famed southern rock band Molly Hatchet performs in concert at Suffolk Theater on Saturday, March 9, at 8 p.m.

Molly Hatchet firmly cemented its place in music history as one of the hardest hitting Southern rock bands since the late 1970s, when it stood alongside other iconic groups out of Jacksonville, Florida, such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers. The group’s mixture of English invasion rock, blues, country and gospel earned it multi-platinum and gold status on numerous albums — also earning a reputation of working hard, playing tough and living fast through intense touring.

Starting off strong in 1978, Epic Records released Molly Hatchet’s debut self-titled album that reached multi-platinum status. During this time, the band was also on the road with Aerosmith, Bob Seger and The Rolling Stones among others. In 1979, the group’s second album “Flirtin’ With Disaster” was released and quickly achieved multi-platinum status as well, skyrocketing the band into the stratosphere and putting them on the road for an average of 250 shows per year. In 1980, the band went on to release “Beatin’ the Odds” (1980), followed by “Take No Prisoners” (1981), “No Guts … No Glory” (1983) “The Deed Is Done” (1984) and “Double Trouble Live” (1985).

In 1987, Bobby Ingram joined the band as lead guitarist and songwriter. Two years later, the band recorded “Lightning Strikes Twice” on Capitol Records; and two years after that, “The Greatest Hits” album was released and certified Gold. In 1996, “Devil’s Canyon” (the first studio album in six years) was recorded in Hamburg, Germany, which was voted the number one rock record in Europe in 1996.

It was followed by “Silent Reign of Heroes” (CMC International, 1998), “Kingdom of XII” (Sanctuary, 2000), “25th Anniversary: Best of Re-Recorded” (SPV Records, 2003), “Warriors of the Rainbow Bridge” (Steamhammer, 2005), “Locked and Loaded – Live” (Steamhammer, 2006), “Justice” (Steamhammer, 2010), “Greatest Hits II” (SPV Records, 2011), and most recently “Battleground – Live” (Steamhammer, 2019).

Molly Hatchet continues to tour around the world. The band’s current lineup consists of long-time members Bobby Ingram on lead guitar and John Galvin on keyboards, as well as Tim Lindsey on bass guitar, Shawn Beamer on drums and Jimmy Elkins on vocals. Molly Hatchet continues to honor the legacies of those members who died — Danny Joe Brown, David Hlubek and Phil McCormack — by keeping the music alive all around the world.

Tickets are $55 to $75 at thesuffolk.org. Suffolk Theater is at 118 East Main Street in Riverhead.