Lamb of God frontman David Randall Blythe will write music for a ballet

At a first glance singer-songwriter Randy Blythe, of metal band Lamb of God, might not appear to have much in common with Pet Shop Boys, Jamie xx or Sufjan Stevens. But he’s due to join their ranks, by scoring a ballet that is headed to a dance festival in Richmond, Virginia, from 17 March to 22 March.

Inventory, the short ballet piece for which Blythe has composed music, will be debuted at Richmond’s New Works festival. Matthew Frain, a Richmond Ballet company member and friend of Blythe’s, choreographed the ballet and is largely responsible for Blythe’s involvement in the project.

After sitting down together at Starbucks, when Frain told Blythe about his plans to choreograph material for the festival, Blythe played Frain some of the music he had been working on while Lamb of God were on tour.

“[Frain] asked me if he could use some of it,” Blythe told local lifestyle publication Richmond magazine, “and I said, ‘Sure, but why don’t we just conceptualise a piece from the ground up, together?’”

In the interview, Blythe, who in 2013 was acquitted on manslaughter charges in the Czech Republic, acknowledged how surprising his choice to work on a ballet might seem to fans of his metal music.

“Artistically, I don’t live in some heavy metal cave – most of my favourite frontmen all work in various disciplines,” he said, citing Henry Rollins, Nick Cave and the Jesus Lizard’s David Yow as inspiring musicians who have cultivated skills in other areas.

Source: The Guardian