BOBBY HICKS

• From Newton, North Carolina. Lived in Asheville, North Carolina.
• Began playing the fiddle at age nine.
• 1954-1960, played fiddle for Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys, recording such classics as “Cheyenne,” “Big Mon,” “Scotland,” “Wheel Hoss,” and “Brown County Breakdown.”
• Also worked and toured with Porter Wagoner, Mel Tillis, other country acts. Had his own dance band.
• 1963-1970, lived and worked in Las Vegas, performing with singer Judy Lynn.
• 1978, released first solo project Texas Crapshooter (County).
• 1980’s, he was a member of the Bluegrass Album Band with Tony Rice, J.D. Crowe, Doyle Lawson, Todd Phillips and Jerry Douglas.
• 1980-2002, was a member of Ricky Skaggs’ touring band and then his bluegrass band Kentucky Thunder.
• Played fiddle on several Skaggs #1 hits, including “Uncle Pen,” “Country Boy,” “Cryin’ My Heart Out Over You,” and “I Wouldn’t Change You If I Could.”
• 1980, released a fiddle duet album with Kenny Baker called Darkness on the Delta (County).
• 1998, released his second solo project Fiddle Patch (Rounder). This album won the IBMA award for Instrumental Album of the Year.
• 2002, was inducted into the Fiddlers Hall of Fame.
• 2003, played dates with Jesse McReynolds and the Virginia Boys.
• 2004, joined the North Carolina band Hazel Creek.
• Bobby and his wife Cathy operated a Wild Bird Center in a shopping center in Asheville where they sold bird feeders and birdseed.
• 2008, fell and broke one of his fingers, requiring surgery. Within three months, he was back playing again. Made several appearances with Earl Scruggs.
• 2015, released an album with guitarist Mark Kuykendall Down Memory Lane (Rebel Records).
• 2017, released second album with Mark Kuykendall Forever and a Day (Rebel Records).
• 2017, was inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.
• 2024, died at the age of 91.
• 2024, was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame.