Clifton Hicks is a banjo player, songwriter, and anthropologist known for his work in American folk music. He was raised in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas before settling in Tennessee. His musical performances and teaching often emphasize the colonial American origins of the banjo.

Clifton is an accomplished folk artist, having built dozens of banjos based on historical examples. His builds are entirely handmade, using only locally sourced hardwood, bone, and other materials.

Hicks enlisted in the U.S. Amy in 2002 at the age of seventeen, serving as a tank driver and machine gunner in Germany and Iraq. After two combat deployments, he applied for and was granted full conscientious objector status. He was honorably discharged in 2005.

In 2013, Hicks graduated from Appalachian State University with a bachelor's degree in anthropology. His academic studies were concentrated in the archaeology and history of the southeastern United States, which remains his chief area of interest.


Clifton Hicks

This man's children have since left a swath of ruined drum circles from Providence to New Orleans (New York City, 1956)

8 hours ago | [YT] | 85

Clifton Hicks

"20 Dollars Reward , Will be paid for the delivery of a negro man named ADAM, 30 of age, 6 feet one inch high, very sensible, has a very good use of the broad-axe and is a tolerable jobbing carpenter, plays on a negroes instrument of Music called a Banjer; commonly sings when playing; he is subject to intoxication, says he was raised in the state of Virginia, from there taken to the state of Kentucky, from that brought into this state about twelve years ago, and sold to one John Allen (near U. States establishment) from the said Allen I purchased him about ten years ago. He took with him a carpenter's saw and other tools-he had a variety of clothes. It is very probable that he has a free pass and may change his name. The above reward and all reasonable expences will be paid on his being discovered to me, and FIFTY DOLLARS reward will be given on conviction of any white person having given him a pass or harboured him."

1 day ago | [YT] | 116

Clifton Hicks

Banjo Heritage & Old Leatherstocking stickers $5 each! Send your address with payment to PayPal.me/CliftonHicksBanjo

1 day ago | [YT] | 124

Clifton Hicks

Possum up a gum stump coon in the holler
Rabbit took a back track and stole a half a dollar

CHORUS
Come on boys let's go to hunting (x3)
Dog in the woods and he done treed something

Your dog barks he don't see nothing (x3)
When my dog barks he done treed something

2 days ago (edited) | [YT] | 58

Clifton Hicks

Bluff Street, Columbia, South Carolina (1955).

2 days ago | [YT] | 327

Clifton Hicks

Wooden drum shell, made on January 15, 1850, by Baltimore instrument maker, and German immigrant, William A. Boucher, Jr. (1822-1899). The drum was carried by Silas Tomilson, Jr. who played in the marching band of the Baltimore City Greys, a militia company later incorporated into the 53rd Maryland Militia Regiment (CSA). I've been unable to determine in which regiment Tomilson served; however, he claims the drum was carried through the Civil War and was "wounded bad" at the battle of Gettysburg. It was then carried by Tomilson's son, who carried it during the Spanish American War where he died from dysentery. Finally, the drum was carried by Tomilson's grandson while serving in France during 1917-1918.

3 days ago | [YT] | 144

Clifton Hicks

Email clifhicks@gmail.com to reserve your private banjo lesson with Clifton Hicks. Appointments are $60/hour. Schedule at your convenience; cancel 24 hours in advance for full refund. I look forward to working with you!

4 days ago | [YT] | 277

Clifton Hicks

Barrow Wheary @barrowwhearybanjo of Fountain Inn, South Carolina, plays the old hymn "Dry Bones" on a fretless banjo that he handmade himself. If you are interested in traditional banjo & fiddle music, and Southeastern history, you will enjoy his other videos on YouTube.

4 days ago (edited) | [YT] | 70

Clifton Hicks

Three skeletons in the woods on the north side of Orange Plank Road near Chancellorsville, Virginia.

5 days ago | [YT] | 262

Clifton Hicks

1-1 Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Division, conducts "reconnaissance in force" against Mahdi Army insurgents at Abu Ghraib, Iraq (April 2004).

6 days ago | [YT] | 135