Hasil Adkins (April 29, 1937 – April 26, 2005) was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His genres include rock and roll, country, blues and more commonly rockabilly. He generally performed as a one-man band, playing guitar and drums at the same time. Adkins grew up in poverty in the midst of the Depression, and his spirited lifestyle is reflected in his music. His songs explored an affinity for chicken, sexual intercourse and decapitation, and were isolated in obscurity until being unearthed in the 1980’s. The newfound success secured him a cult following, spawned the Norton Records label, and helped usher in the genre known as psychobilly. (More from Wikipedia)
Of course, these are all people who are more or less well known. Other singer-songwriters live in obscurity but still produce their music year after year. One example is Hasil Adkins, the rockabilly one-man band from rural West Virginia that I have discussed previously. Once Miriam Linna and Billy Miller of Kicks magazine brought him to a wider audience, launching one of the best reissue record labels in the process (Norton Records), Adkins had some celebrity in the final years of his life. Wikipedia and Allmusic list 10 studio albums and 6 compilation albums by Hasil Adkins; I’m up to I think 5 albums myself thus far. If not for Norton, Hasil Adkins would have been almost completely unknown, and that would be a tragedy in my mind.
(March 2015)
