Rocker Graves defends West Memphis 3

NEW YORK, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Michale Graves, former singer with the New Jersey punk band The Misfits, is the latest rocker to speak up for the West Memphis 3 and its jailed members.

Graves is using his current tour to support the trio and is also collaborating with one of them, Damien Echols, on a new album.

Graves tells Billboard.com that the collection will be toned down from his usual black-hearted punk stylings and will be "very folkie."

The West Memphis 3 includes Echols, James Baldwin and Jesse Misskelley. They were convicted of killing three young boys in 1993 in West Memphis, Ark. Their supporters have called the conviction a miscarriage of justice based on lousy evidence and their cause has been picked up by artists including Pearl Jam and Henry Rollins.

Graves was inspired to get involved after seeing "Paradise Lost," a documentary film on the case that came out earlier this year.