Duane Roland (December 3, 1952 – June 19, 2006) was an American guitarist for the Southern hard rock band Molly Hatchet.
[1] After leaving the band he played with the Southern Rock Allstars and Gator Country, which included many of the founding members of Molly Hatchet.
[3] On his decision to become a serious musician he said: I was at the "West Palm Beach Music Festival" and the line up was Johnny Winter, Vanilla Fudge, Janis Joplin, King Crimson and the Rolling Stones.
King Crimson was late so Johnny Winter, Janis Joplin and The Vanilla Fudge got up and jammed and I came straight up off that plastic and said, "That's what I wanna do!
He was on leave from the Southern Rock Allstars to recuperate from a hip operation when in November 2004, Riff West confirmed that the rumours of a reunion of sorts were true.
Dave Hlubek dropped out of the project in January 2005 so the new band were the remaining five and Bruce's bandmate from Daddy-Oh, guitarist Linne Disse.
[4] Drummer Bruce Crump said Roland was the anchor of Molly Hatchet during the 1980s, a time when the band's lineup was constantly changing.