Dan Hicks Holidaze In Hicksville with special guest Bob Dorough December 8, 2009

Two great American musical stylists, Dan Hicks and Bob Dorough, will perform together for the very first time during the Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks annual extravaganza, ‘Holidaze in Hicksville’ at Yoshi’s Oakland on December 8th and 9th.

‘Holidaze in Hicksville’ will feature Dorough, Hicks, and the Hot Licks collaborating on a selection of Hicks and Dorough originals, combined with jazz standards and holiday favorites, including the Miles Davis/Bob Dorough classic “Blue Xmas.”
A uniquely entertaining view of the holiday season, flavored with Dan Hicks’ signature electicism and humor will be presented through original songs and dance, including such Hicks-ian gems as "My Main Man Santa", "A Yule That’s Cool”, and "Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Christmas Card."

There will also be plenty of other slightly off-kilter (but never off-key) material from a singer-songwriter who's a true American original -- including his well-loved classics and selections from the recent Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks Surfdog Records release, Tangled Tales.

The Bob Dorough Trio will open each show.

DAN HICKS

Beginning as a drummer in the seminal 60's San Francisco rock band The Charlatans, and continuing with his unique and legendary Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks, Dan Hicks is widely acknowledged as one of the defining figures in American roots music. Having earned a reputation as a true original with his signature eclecticism and humor, Hicks continues to carve his way through a number of genres from proto-psychedelia to western swing and jazz, from tin pan alley to country blues -- all the while cultivating his own unique sound.
The original Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks recorded five ground-breaking and Billboard-charting records for the Columbia, Blue Thumb and Warner Bros. labels. They toured worldwide, and Dan appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine three times.

The newest incarnation of Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks released the wildly successful "Beatin' the Heat" in 2000, featuring collaborations with Bette Midler, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Rickie Lee Jones and Brian Setzer. USA Today called it "one of the blessings of the new millennium." That release was followed by the live CD "Alive & Lickin" in 2001.
2003 saw the release of "Dan Hicks and The Hot Licks - Featuring An All Star Cast of Friends" DVD/CD, a spectacular concert and video project that reunited Hicks with virtually every musician he has ever played and recorded with. Both Mojo and Downbeat magazines rated it "Four Stars...one of the best CDs of '04."
2005 brought the studio album "Selected Shorts", featuring special guests Willie Nelson, Jimmy Buffett, Gibby Haynes, Jim Keltner and Van Dyke Parks. It was widely touted as one of the band's best -- The New Yorker magazine remarked, "As great as his early masterpiece "Where's the Money?"...truly superb."

In vintage Dan Hicks form, Tangled Tales, his tenth studio album (March 24, 2009/Surfdog Records) , mashes the outlaw swing music, insightful charm, and brilliant melodies that have endeared him to audiences and fellow artists for four decades. Featuring a world-class collection of musical talent including instrumental virtuosos David Grisman, Charlie Musselwhite, and slide-guitarist Roy Rogers, and produced by Grammy-winning roots music producer Chris Goldsmith, Tangled Tales delivers eight great new original tunes that feel like instant Dan Hicks classics (and some choice cover tunes too). It is yet another brilliant addition to the unique body of work of this great American songwriter. To quote Daily Variety, "Dan Hicks is at the top of his game … unlike many pop artists today, a new studio album from Dan Hicks is like a new painting from Picasso… STAY TUNED!"

BOB DOROUGH

Bob Dorough was born in Cherry Hill, Arkansas on December 12, 1923, and grew up in Texas, where he graduated from North Texas State University, majoring in composition. He moved to New York City to become a jazz musician in 1950 and lived in Paris from 1954 to 1955 (where he recorded with singer Blossom Dearie). When he returned to the United States, Dorough moved to Los Angeles, where he played various gigs, including a job between sets by Lenny Bruce.

Dorough released his first album, Devil May Care, in 1956. It contained a version of "Yardbird Suite" with lyrics by Dorough over the famous Charlie Parker song. Miles Davis liked the album, so when Columbia asked Davis to record a Christmas song in 1962, Davis turned to Dorough for lyrics and singing duties. The result was "Blue Xmas," released on Columbia's Jingle Bell Jazz compilation.

Among Dorough’s other illustrious songwriting collaborators over the years have been Fran Landesman and Dave Frishberg. His tunes now appear on albums recorded by dozens of other vocalists – and many have found special favor as instrumentals, too.
Gen-Xers know his voice – if not his name – because they love the "Schoolhouse Rock" videos that entertained them on ABC-TV during the 70s, 80s and 90s. Dorough handled the music for about fifty of these timeless little classics, including “Three is a Magic Number.”

These days, Dorough – a proud inductee into the Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame – does a bit of organic gardening at his Pennsylvania farmette. He's still writing great songs, too. Most important, though, he continues to delight audiences in clubs and concert halls on several continents. As throngs of admirers worldwide can testify, at the age of 85, Bob Dorough is only now reaching his prime.

Official Website: http://yoshis.com/oakland