Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks

Dan Hicks, (born December 9, 1941, in Little Rock, Arkansas), was the son of a career military man. At age five, Hicks moved with his family to California, eventually settling north of San Francisco in Santa Rosa, where he was a drummer in grade school and played the snare drum in his school marching band.

At 14, he was performing with area dance bands. While in high school, he had a rotating spot on Time Out for Teens, a daily 15-minute local radio program, and he went on to study broadcasting at San Francisco State College during the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Taking up the guitar in 1959, he became part of the San Francisco folk music scene, performing at local coffeehouses. Hicks' style blends elements of folk, jazz, country and other genres. His songs are infused with a good dose of humor, as evidenced by the title of his tune, "How Can I Miss You When You Won't Go Away?"