Last Train to Hicksville

Tuesday Mayhem 24 6PM-10PM
Hosted by Art Crimes

Dan Hicks was more than a Bay Area institution; he was a man out of time, residing in his own slice of the American musical spectrum. His wardrobe and his songs were in a style that was not just old-fashioned but defiantly so in comparison to the hippie soldiers that donned purple velvet tunics and rainbow trousers, churning out instantly-forgotten odes to their turned-on lifestyle. The Charlatans, where Hicks first achieved fame, were the first band of the psychedelic era to establish a presence in the San Francisco ballroom scene, yet they never released much music and soon fell apart instead of entering the mainstream like the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and other bands that went national as ambassadors for the Summer of Love.

Dan Hicks eventually followed his own path, writing and performing music that he crafted with wit, charm, and a certain degree of sarcasm, as well as resurrecting neglected jazz and country nuggets, with a variety of bands that he would assemble to pursue his particular vision of the moment. Never getting much attention outside of a small-but-devoted-following, he captured the ears of many well-known musicians who thought highly of Hicks and sometimes recorded his compositions.

Dan Hicks passed away on February 6th of this year at the age of 74. Thankfully, there's plenty of musical evidence, as well as a few interviews, to tell his story.