Clifton Hicks

Clifton Hicks is a banjo player and anthropologist known for his work in traditional American music. He was raised in Florida, and later moved to Georgia before settling in Tennessee. His music and teaching often emphasize the colonial American origin of the banjo. Hicks enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2002 at the age of seventeen. He served as an M1 Abrams tank crewman in Kentucky, Germany, and Iraq. After two consecutive combat deployments he applied for conscientious objector status, and was honorably discharged in December, 2005. Clifton is an accomplished folk artist and luthier, having built dozens of 18th century style gourd banjos, as well as 19th and 20th century minstrel and mountain banjos. Most of his builds are entirely hand-carved using locally sourced hardwood, bone, and other materials. In 2013, Hicks received his bachelor's degree in anthropology from Appalachian State University at Boone, North Carolina. His studies were heavily concentrated in Southeastern archaeology and history.