Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks have created a Christmas album set for release October 12. <em>Crazy For Christmas</em> is classic Hot Licks, full of the same dry wit and musical brilliance that has defined Dan Hicks’ music for the past four decades and established him as one of American music’s true cult heroes.
"We wanted to have the Hot Licks sound going, with our signature violin and guitar and two girls backing me up and the tongue-in-cheek approach to the material and the delivery. Keeping it swingin’, keeping it light, with lots of good solos and some cool scat stuff," explains Hicks. "It’s a Christmas album, yes, but first and foremost it’s a Hot Licks album."
<em>Crazy For Christmas</em> covers it all – with Hicks originals "I’ve Got Christmas By The Tail" and the humorous "Santa’s Workshop" nestled in with classics (done Hicks’ style) like "Here Comes Santa Claus" and an amazing original take on "Carol Of The Bells." Of course, no Dan Hicks holiday album would be complete without a few irreverent parodies including "Christmas Mornin’" (done in the tune of Hicks’ hit "Where’s The Money") and "Santa Got A Choo-Choo" (a Hicks re-write and salute to "Choo Choo Ch’Boogie").
<em>Crazy For Christmas</em> comes on the heels of Hicks’ critically acclaimed 2009 release <em>Tangled Tales</em>. The recording, dubbed an "irreverent, rowdy, even dangerous distillation of real American music," by the East Bay Express, proved once-and-for-all that Hicks’ undeniable musical legacy is still evolving. "Talk about a rugged, all-American individual," the <em>LA Weekly</em> reviewed, "Dan Hicks has plowed deep furrows through some of the most fertile pop music territory known to man, and during it all has maintained both his own distinct, light yet emphatic touch and a pace that’s always kept him more than a few steps ahead of his colleagues."
Dan Hicks began his career in 1965 as the drummer for psychedelic San Francisco rock band The Charlatans before forming the acoustic ensemble Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks. His unique songwriting and blend of styles, masterful folk-swing guitar playing, and unmistakable sense of humor have made him a cultural icon, landing Hicks on the cover of <em>Rolling Stone</em> twice and provoking Tom Waits to say, "Dan Hicks is fly, sly, wily and dry" while Elvis Costello proclaimed him "an American treasure." Learn more at danhicks.net.