Caught in the Act: Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks

By Mike Shea

In addition to singing and playing a guitar - both the front and back - Dan Hicks mixed jokes and an amusing dance routine into his performance on February 15, 2006, at the Barns at Wolf Trap. With a female backup group, The Lickettes, singing harmony, his Hot Licks band (bass, guitar, and violin) provided the groove and some inspired solos. Hicks' act may be a little zany at times, but it is always fun and the music makes you want to move.

Hicks' website describes his music as "blended elements of Swing, Jazz, Folk and Country music...[what Hicks] sometimes calls 'Folk Jazz.'" During the '60s, Hicks was a drummer for The Charlatans, one of San Francisco's pioneer psychedelic rock bands. Hicks eventually left The Charlatans to concentrate on his own acoustic band, Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks. Although never big on the Top 40 charts, Hicks did have some radio success in the San Francisco Bay Area with his most well known songs, "I Scare Myself" and "Canned Music."

At the February 15 show, The Lickettes were Roberta Donnay and Daria; Paul Smith played bass; Dave Bell played lead guitar; and Richard Chon played the violin.

Related Links
Dan Hicks Site
Michael Shea Photography