Hasil Adkins

Hasil Adkins
Adkins near his home in West Virginia in 1993
Background information
Birth name	Hasil Raymond Adkins
Born	(1937-04-29)April 29, 1937 Boone County, West Virginia, United States
Died	April 26, 2005(2005-04-26) (aged 67) Boone County, West Virginia, United States
Genres	Rockabilly, country, rock and roll, blues, psychobilly
Occupation(s)	Musician, singer-songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, drums, harmonica, keyboards
Years active	1957–2005
Labels	Norton, Fat Possum

Hasil Adkins /ˈhæsəl/ (April 29, 1937 – April 26, 2005) was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His genres include rock and roll, country, blues and more commonly rockabilly, and because of his unusual playing and singing style, he is often cited as an example of outsider music. He generally performed as a one-man band, playing guitar and drums at the same time.

Adkins grew up in poverty in the midst of the Depression, and his spirited, unusual lifestyle is reflected in his music. His songs, which he began recording and distributing locally in the mid-1950s, explored an affinity for sexual intercourse, and decapitation, and were obscure outside of West Virginia until the 1980s. The newfound popularity secured him a cult following, spawned the Norton Records label, and helped usher in the genre known as psychobilly.

Adkins was born in Boone County, West Virginia on April 29, 1937, where he spent his entire life. He was the youngest of ten children of Wid Adkins, a coal miner, and Alice Adkins, raised in a tarpaper shack on property rented from a local coal company. Born at the time of the Great Depression, Adkins' early life was stricken by poverty. His parents were unable to provide him shoes until he was four or five years old. Some reports say he attended school for a very brief time, as few as two days of first grade.

Adkins' given name, Hasil, pronounced "Hassel", was often mispronounced. One of his brothers was named Basil, similarly pronounced "Bassel". Hasil dated a girl named Hazel, and was later given the nickname The Haze. As he explained it, the nickname came about "'cause Starlight records wanted something catchy and I didn't have no middle name."