User:Babypix/sandbox

Larry Hanks: American Songster/Composer, "Apple Picker's Reel"
Larry Hanks is an American folksinger associated with songs of the American West, who has been performing worldwide since the mid 1950s. Born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Hanks was raised in Berkeley, California.

A graduate of Berkeley High School, Hanks began performing as a duo with Roger Perkins in San Francisco. Hanks & Perkins performed briefly with Janis Joplin, and this trio can be heard on several bootleg recordings now available on the internet. Hanks is perhaps best known for his composition, "Apple Picker's Reel" (BMI), which describes his experiences in the Santa Rosa, California area working as a fruit-picker in the early 1960s.

Hanks moved to the Pacific Northwest, where he resided in Bellingham, Washington, after his marriage to banjo player, Laura Smith. (They were later divorced, she remarried, and is known as Laura Smith-Clawson).

Larry Hanks' beloved work song, "Apple Picker's Reel", has been recorded by dozens of performers, most notably by Sharon, Lois & Bram (also featured on their television program, "The Elephant Show"); folksinger, Michael Cooney (who also performed the song on "Captain Kangaroo"), Priscilla Herdman, Bill Staines, and many others. With it's authentic folksy sound, it is often mistaken for a song of unknown origin. However, this song has been copyrighted by Hanks since the 1960s, and continues to be administered via BMI and Hanks' music publishing company, Zippety Whippet Music.

Hanks is a sought-after Jew's Harp player, thought by many to be the finest practitioner of this instrument in the genre of American vernacular music. Traditional music performer and educator, Mike Seeger, sought out Hanks to teach him to play the Jew's Harp, and later brought him to Siberia to attend the 1st Annual International Jew's Harp Conference in Yakutsk. Hanks' Jew's Harp playing is featured on David Grisman's and Jerry Garcia's "Not for Kids Only!" album, as well as several of his own recordings.

Larry Hanks was recorded by Mike Seeger (of The New Lost City Ramblers) on his "Berkeley Farms" album, and later "Third Annual Farewell Reunion"; and John Cohen (also of The New Lost City Ramblers) recorded Hanks on his "Berkeley in the '60s" project. Esteemed American traditional and bluegrass musician, Jody Stecher, has featured Larry Hanks' singing on several of his albums, including: "Songs of the Carter Family", "Song That Will Linger", and "Oh the Wind and the Rain".

In 1982, Hanks released a solo album, "Tying a Knot in the Devil's Tail"

Hanks performed and recorded "The Truth for Certain" with Bellingham, Washington local, Mike Marker in 2001. He married intellectual property rights executive (HBO, Bravo, PBS, others) and musical partner, Deborah Robins, in 2009, and the duo have released two CDs: "No Hiding Place" and "Old Days", and are scheduled to release the third, "The Wheel of Time" in 2013.

Hanks has performed extensively at folk festivals throughout the United States, Canada, and the UK. In 2012, he and Deborah Robins were duo performers at a featured evening at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Larry Hanks is associated with the music of long time friend, Utah Phillips, having recorded several of Phillips' songs. He cites Sam Hinton, Leadbelly, and Malvina Reynolds, as being strong influences on his musical tastes. He is revered for his deep bass-baritone voice, and extensive repertoire of traditional American songs.

http://www.larryhanks.com http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=M5074&type=A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXnuEJHP2Jo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8kAGI0HluU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnPxRCJBFO8 http://www.allmusic.com/artist/larry-hanks-mn0000129064/credits