MICHAEL HURLEY

Event information

Michael Hurley is an American singer/guitarist, reportedly born December 20, 1941. He also plays the fiddle.

Hurley’s debut album, First Songs, was recorded for Folkways Records in 1965 on the same reel-to-reel machine that taped Leadbelly’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. In the late 70’s, Hurley made three albums for Rounder, all of which have since been reissued on CD. His 1976 LP Have Moicy, a collaboration with the Unholy 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 - Drums, Gus Ziesing - percussion, Jill Gross - Harmony Vocals, Jim Harvey - Trombone, Dan Archer and Bob Jordan - Guitars and Mike Boise - Bass. Tours with Son Volt and high praise from younger performers like Lucinda Williams, Vic Chesnutt, Calexico, Cat Power and Robin Holcomb followed.
Greg Weeks of Espers noted in an eBay auction in July 2006 that the band has begun work on a collaborative album with Hurley.

"Michael Hurley's music is often coined as "outsider folk." His hobo lifestyle indeed could be looked upon as eccentric, but it might be better to regard him as one of the last insiders keeping alive the traditions of the folk troubadour. Since the earliest of the 60s, when he started rambling with his fiddlin' Bucks County buddy Robin Remaily, Hurley has slowly carved out a monolithic catalog that stands as a one of the richest in the history of American folk music. Hurley-or Snockman, Doc Snock, Hi Fi Snock, Elwood Snock, or simply The Snock, as he likes to call himself on different occasions-is one of those songwriters who can casually sing one of his heartbreakers, like "Sweedeedee" or "The Twilight Zone," and create a feeling of melancholia deeper than the deepest waters. What makes the Snockman doubly amazing is that, after 35 years, his song craftsmanship hasn't shown the slightest decline in quality. The Wolfways album from a few years ago is a masterpiece, and his newly recorded album-that doesn't even have a home yet-has songs like "Mr. Man in the Moon" that transcend a loneliness more poignant than anything else I know. Not that Hurley's music is just about longing and trouble and strife, the Snock can be very loopy and funny too; he writes from the perspective of a porkchop in "I Heard the Voice of a Porkchop," or he sings like a crow, or tells us that we are all gonna look like a monkey when we're old. Hurley's music draws from the wealth of old American folk styles like country blues, bluegrass, and country, of which he has a profound knowledge. When he plays the banjo or fiddle you're under the impression he's lived in the Appalachians all his life, and his intricate but bare finger picking on the guitar is identifiable out of thousands; and like John Lee Hooker and Robert Wilkins, he idiosyncratically adds or skips a beat or bar when his muse calls for it." - PERFECT SOUND FOREVER

Website: http://www.snockonews.net/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/snock07
Lastfm: http://www.last.fm/music/Michael+Hurley
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hurley
Interview: http://www.furious.com/perfect/michaelhurley.html

+ THIS IS THE KIT
http://www.myspace.com/thisisthekit