Michael Hurley (musician)

Michael Hurley
Background information
Born December 20, 1941
Bucks County, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres Traditional folk, country folk
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Vocals, guitar, fiddle, banjo
Years active 1965-present

Michael Hurley (born c. December 20, 1941) is an American folk singer who was essential to the Greenwich folk music scene of the 1960s and 1970s. He is able to play a wide variety of instruments. Michael Hurley is also a cartoonist and a painter.

Michael Hurley's music is often described as "outsider folk."

Career

Before starting his recording career Hurley contracted mononucleosis and needed to wait several years until he could sign to a record label. Hurley's debut album, First Songs, was recorded for Folkways Records in 1965[1] on the same reel-to-reel machine that taped Lead Belly's Last Sessions. He was discovered by blues and jazz historian Frederick Ramsey III, and subsequently championed by boyhood friend Jesse Colin Young, who released his 2nd & 3rd albums on The Youngbloods' Warner Bros. imprint, Raccoon.[2] In the late 1970s, Hurley made three albums for Rounder, all of which have since been reissued on CD. His 1976 LP Have Moicy!, a collaboration with the Holy Modal Rounders and Jeffrey Frederick & The Clamtones, was named "the greatest folk album of the rock era" by The Village Voice's Robert Christgau.

In 1996, Koch Records released Wolfways with Hurley backed by Mickey Bones on drums. Tours with Son Volt and high praise from younger performers like Lucinda Williams, Vic Chesnutt, Woods, Calexico, Cat Power, Julian Lynch,[3] and Robin Holcomb followed.

In 2001, Locust Music reissued Hurley's debut under the new title Blueberry Wine with new artwork contributed by Hurley.

Gnomonsong released a new Michael Hurley album titled Ancestral Swamp on September 18, 2007. Backing was provided by longtime Hurley associate David Reisch of the Holy Modal Rounders and new friends Tara Jane O'Neil and Lewi Longmire.

In 2010, Secret Seven Records (San Francisco) and Mississippi Records (Portland) teamed up to reissue 100 copies of Hurley's rarest album "Blue Navigator" on 8-track tape. (Hurley is a long-time collector of music on 8-track tapes.)

In 2011, Hurley's first book of lyrics was released by the Quebec book publisher L'Oie de Cravan. It contains the original English lyrics to 19 of his songs calligraphed by the author, a foreword by critic Byron Coley and a French version by Marie Frankland, winner of the 2007 John-Glassco prize for translation.

Hurley has performed at the annual Nelsonville Music Festival in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.[4][5]

Personal life

Michael Hurley grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and began playing and writing songs at the age of 13. He recorded his first album, "First Songs" at the age of 22. He also lived in New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, Vermont, Ohio, Florida, and most recently in Oregon. Michael Hurley self-published at least three magazines. The Underground Monthly, The Outcry, and The Morning Tea. He also created several comic books featuring Jocko and Boone, Greenbriar Kornbread, and Mama Molasses, among other characters.[6]

Hurley likes to call himself Elwood Snock, Doc Snock, Snockman, The Snock, or Snock. Hurley has done much of the artwork for his own albums. Two oft-featured cartoon werewolves, Jocko and Boone, have been something of a theme across Hurley's musical career, even appearing in their own comics. Both are based on dogs that Hurley owned.

Michael Hurley has three children with his former wife, Marjorie, whom he called "Pasta," [7] two sons, Jordan and Colorado, and a daughter, Daffodil. With a girlfriend, Kim, he shares a son, Rollin. He shares a daughter, Wilder Mountain Honey, with a girlfriend, Annie.

Discography

References

  1. ↑ Beatty, Brian. "First Songs: Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
  2. ↑ Bush, John. "Michael Hurley: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
  3. ↑ "5-10-15-20: Julian Lynch". Pitchfork.
  4. ↑ “Nelsonville Music Festival.” Nelsonville Music Festival, n.d. Web. 25 October 2012.
  5. ↑ "Past Shows." Stuart's Opera House: Nelsonville, Ohio. Stuart's Opera House: Nelsonville, Ohio, n.d. Web. !8 October 2012.
  6. ↑ Coley, Byron (August 2013). "On the trail of the lonesome Snock" (No. 35). Arthur. Check date values in: |access-date= (help);
  7. ↑ van den Elzen, Frank; Gaffney, Leslie (1997). "Michael Hurley Interview". furious.com. Popwatch Magazine.
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