The quirky singer and songwriter Michael Hurley, who influenced generations of artists and was the genesis of the “freak-folk” motion, has passed away. He was 83.
The Hurley family announced the new sudden departure of the unique Michael Hurley in an a  speech to Rolling Stone.” It is with a spectacular sadness. The” Godfather of monster traditions” was for a protracted period of time the inventor of eccentric genius and wry humour. Snock was the only one. There isn’t another. Friends, family, and the music industry are greatly indignant over his passing.
The home did not provide a cause of death or a list of the deceased.
After manufacturer and poet Fred Ramsey picked him up on a hitchiking ramble in the Greenwich Village traditions scene in New York in the 1960s, Hurley, who was born in Pennsylvania, developed a damaged perspective on music, blues, and traditions. His album record,” First Songs,” from 1964, was featured on Folkways, Woody Guthrie’s praised home and” Anthology of American Folk Music,” curated by Harry Smith.
Hurley had a wide range of skills, including harp and fiddler, and he designed and illustrated the majority of his endearing hand-drawn album artwork. His songs had a stark, strange quality that was both surreal ( as in” Be Kind to Me” and” Valley of Tears” ) and beautiful ( as in” What Made My Hamburger Disappear” ). or “You’re a Dog, Don’t Talk to Me” ). Jesse Colin Young, a forthcoming Youngbloods singer, and him, who would later release Hurley’s distorted vision on his Warner Bros. imprint Raccoon, helped him fight back against his distorted vision.
1976’s” Have Moicy”! became a cult favorite in the underwater, and his rapidly expanding collection may include more than 30 LPs. Indie artists and like-minded singer-songwriters like Lucinda Williams and Cat Power would continue to champion his work. Their music was haunted by his hauntingly interpreted one” Werewolf” from her beloved 2003 LP” You Are Free.” Hurley appeared in the 2018 picture” Leave No Trace,” and in the same year, he performed” O My Stars” on Devendra Banhart’s Gnomonsong tag.
He told the Guardian in 2021,” Yes, I think it’s apt. Calling me an observer designer. It took me a long time to meet the gang, according to ;” I didn’t enjoy the process of applying for jobs, that dedication to reach things, and all this problems you had to go through.” I favor having functions play. small groups. eating in a group of friends and crossing the river.
Hurley spent his final years in rural Oregon, where he recorded his most recent album,” The Day of the Foxgloves,” in 2021. Just days before his passing, he continued to write and execute at events like the Tennessee Big Ears celebration.
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