Michael Hurley (born c. December 20, 1941) is an American singer/guitarist. He also plays the fiddle and piano. He grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
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Hurley's debut album, First Songs, was recorded for Folkways Records in 1964[1] on the same reel-to-reel machine that taped Lead Belly'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.[2] In the late 1970s, 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 on drums. Tours with Son Volt and high praise from younger performers like Lucinda Williams, Vic Chesnutt, Woods, Calexico, Cat Power, Julian Lynch[3], and Robin Holcomb followed.
In 2001, Locust Music reissued Hurley's debut under the new title Blueberry Wine with new artwork contributed by Hurley.
Gnomonsong released a new Michael Hurley album titled Ancestral Swamp on September 18, 2007. Backing was provided by longtime Hurley associate David Reisch of the Holy Modal Rounders and new friends Tara Jane O'Neil and Lewi Longmire.
In 2010, Secret Seven Records (San Francisco) and Mississippi Records (Portland) teamed up to reissue 100 copies of Hurley's rarest album "Blue Navigator" on 8-track tape.
Hurley has done much of the artwork for his own albums, and the two oft-featured cartoon werewolves, Jocko and Boone, have been something of a theme across Hurley's musical career, even appearing in their own comics. Both were based on real dogs that Hurley owned.
Hurley resides in Astoria, Oregon.
First Songs (1965)
Armchair Boogie (1971)
Hi Fi Snock Uptown (1972)
Have Moicy! (1975) credited to Michael Hurley/The Unholy Modal Rounders/Jeffrey Frederick & the Clamtones
Long Journey (1976)
Snockgrass (1980)
Blue Navigator (1984)
Watertower (1988)
Land Of Lofi And Redbirds (1988)
Excrusiasion '86 (1988)
Growlin' Bo Bo (1991)
The Woodbill Brothers (1992)
Wolfways (1994)
Parsnip Snips (1996)
Bellemeade Sessions (1997)
Weatherhole (1999)
Live in Edinburgh (1999)
Blueberry Wine (2001)
Sweetkorn (2002)
Down In Dublin (2005)
Ancestral Swamp (2007)
Ida Con Snock (2009)
Blue Hills (2010)