Dan Hicks

Singer-songwriter Dan Hicks is truly an American original. Since the early 1960s, Hicks has deftly blended elements of Swing, Jazz, Folk and Country music to create the appealing sound he sometimes calls "Folk Jazz". The lyrics of his songs range from the simply sublime to the sublimely ridiculous, all presented with his uniquely skewed and inscrutable touch.

Dan's irresistible sense of rhythm, hip lyrical styling, laid-back vocalizing, and infamous on-stage wit will make most who listen fans for life. He's a snappy dresser, too.

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote of Dan: "So few truly original figures exist in pop music that Dan Hicks should be a national treasure."

Dan was the original drummer and a founding member of the Charlatans, the band that launched the entire psychedelic music scene in San Francisco before even Jefferson Airplane, The Grateful Dead or Quicksilver Messenger Service. When commercial success eluded the group, he left to devote his full-time energies as singer, guitarist and songwriter to a side project, Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks. Several critically acclaimed and commercially successful albums were produced from 1969 to 1973. But, owing to pressures both internal and external, Dan broke up the Hot Licks in 1973, at the height of the band's popularity. After a lengthy hiatus, he resumed his career touring as a solo act and with The Accoustic Warriors before returning to the recording studio in 1998.