| Bill Hicks (1943-2018)
...
was active in music through 2017. He retired from stone masonry a few years before. He and his wife Libby played contra dances around the southeast and various concerts and gigs featured their wide ranging vocal interests: original songs, blues, swing, and harmony duets. Bill performed his original songs at solo venues and frequently with former Red Clay Ramblers Jim Watson and Mike Craver along with Joe Newberry to crank up the old model T yet again. Bill and Libby have a Copper Creek CD, South of Nowhere. Bill recorded a live show at the Cave in Chapel Hill and self-produced a CD, The Perfect Gig, featuring his original songs and guitar playing in a solo context. He did occasional studio work with various musicians, including all of Jim Watson's solo recordings and Chapel Hill's Joe Woodson. Bill and Libby taught occasionally at the Augusta Heritage Workshops, and--in the summer of '04--at Allegheny Echoes in Marlinton, WV. Bill was a contributing editor of the Old Time Herald. He took advantage of the existence of this website to start his little blog of opinions: Admit One Journal as well as a corner of blogspot.com called "Ramblings of a Fiddler." Links to all of the above are found on William Hicks Masonry |
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 Bill's
homepage
 "ramblings
of a fiddler" - Bill's blog
 ADMIT
ONE JOURNAL - Bill's Snappy Opinions-An Occasional Blog
 Eugene
Chadbourne writes Bill's biography |
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CD news! Bill & Libby's CD South of Nowhere (Copper Creek) can be ordered directly from Bill's family. |
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Bill's solo The Perfect Gig (released March, 2002), all original songs! Some cuts are live from The Cave, Chapel Hill, NC. Order your copy from Bill or order online from CDBaby |
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Founding Red Clay Ramblers Mike Craver, Bill Hicks and Jim Watson reunited in 2001 at the Festival for the Eno and played increasing numbers of concerts each year through 2017. (photo by Tom Cox) |
| Between Bill & Libby gigs, Bill Hicks solos his original songs, accompanied not by his legendary fiddle, but by both electric and acoustic guitars. (Old-timers, hold your snow cones.) One night Bill entertained the crowd at The Cave in Chapel Hill while over on the side, Rick Ramirez of Temple Ball Productions had set up his equipment to record. The result - Bill's solo CD The Perfect Gig - can be yours. Write Bill for info. |
The Cave November 14, 2001 (recording The Perfect Gig) |
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When Bill's not fiddlin' or writing, he creates in masonry. He built these steps a few years ago for a Duke Professor of Economics. View his work at William Hicks Masonry. |
Bill as seen by a fan at the Beaufort
Music Festival
larger version! |
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"Sixty
isn't nearly as old as it used to be"
Bill at his birthday party, January 2003 |
Blurred
Time is Bill's witty history of the Red Clay Ramblers during his
years from 1972-1981. The journey includes some of his short stories
as well. He changed the names to protect the anything-but-innocent,
but we bet you can figure out who's who.
Explore
the roots of the Red Clay Ramblers. Bill was a member of the Fuzzy
Mountain String Band before becoming a Blur. We've added some new
pics of the Fuzzies, Bill with Tommy Jarrell, and a pre-Fuzzy band
of Bill's, the Smokey Grass Band.
Susan
Ketchin interviewed Bill back in 1978 about
his music. More interviews from those days are linked from the Red
Clay Ramblers Souvenirs
Fiddlin'
Bill's article "A Remembrance: In Honor of a Reunion of Middle-Aged
Old-Time Musicians at Camp New Hope, Orange County, NC, April, 1989"
