Joe Hickerson

WHAT'S NEW

On July 9, 2005, I was presented with the annual Excellence in the Traditional Arts Award by Walt Michael, Director of Common Ground on the Hill at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland. The event culminated the afternoon performances at Common Ground's annual American Music & Arts Festival at the Carroll County Farm Museum. Previous recipients have included Pete & Toshi Seeger, Odetta, Doc Watson, Etta Baker, and Ramblin' Jack Elliott.

I celebrated my 70th birthday three days early with a concert on Monday October 17, 2005, at St. Mark Presbyterian Church, Rockville, MD. The event was sponsored by the Institute of Musical Traditions and included an interview by Mary Cliff, host of "Traditions" on WETA-FM 90.9. Thanks to all of you who attended and signed the Guest Book.

On November 19, 2005, I was awarded an Honorary Membership in the Society for Ethnomusicology at their 50th Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA. This award is in recognition to those who have contributed to the field of ethnomusicology and to the Society, for which I was Secretary for 8 years and Current Bibliographer for 23 years. And that evening, I gave a presentation on the 50-year history of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone."

Imagine my great surprise when I discovered my name in the following sentence on page 241 of a recently published book: "Folklorist singers came through the Twin Cities also and you could learn songs from them, too -- old-time performers like Joe Hickerson, Roger Abrams (sic), Ellen Stekert or Rolf Kahn." And what book was this? None other than Bob Dylan's CHRONICLES: VOLUME ONE (NY: Simon & Schuster, 2004). Well, 'tis true that I've performed there; the first time was in 1972, as I recall, at The Riverside Cafe. I believe Bob Dylan had left town by then. Now I guess I will need to mention Bob Dylan in my memoir, if and when I write it.