Solomon Hicks
SOLOMON HICKS
Saturday, November 23 1:00 p.m.
DoubleTree Grand Ballroom
Solomon Hicks, aka King Solomon Hicks, the 28-year-old guitar phenom from New York City [Guitarist, Vocalist, and Composer] invested in music from a very young age and started playing guitar at six years old. Growing up in Harlem he was constantly surrounded by music. Solomon witnessed performances that made a significant impact on his ambitions as a musician and he says: “When you’re around good musicians, it gives you that spark. Being around those types of musicians also taught me to NOT be the fastest guitar player. I wanted to be the one who knew the most riffs and drew on a lot of knowledge so I could play anything and with anyone.”
Solomon won the 2021 Blues Music Awards for Best Emerging Artist for his 2020 CD release, Harlem on Provogue Records. The set, produced/recorded by multiple Grammy Award winner Kirk Yano (Miles Davis, Public Enemy, Mariah Carey), showcases Hicks as a writer, player and interpreter.
He was WXPN’s “Artist To Watch” for August 2020, His original song “421 SouthMain” made the Top 20 Blues Songs of 2020 on Spotify, and the song “What the Devil Loves” still gets spins on “Sirrus Bluesville” Radio. He has performed on KISS Kruise V, Joe Bonamassa’s Blues Alive at Sea [2017 & 2019]. He's shared stages with Buddy Guy, Samantha Fish, Tony Bennett, Jeff Beck, Ringo Starr, Jimmie Vaughn, Beth Hart, Mavis Staples, Robert Cray, Eric Gales, Norman Nardini, and many others. He is a member of the Blues Foundation in Memphis.
Solomon has been judged by the IBCs in Memphis [International Blues Challenge] as being a supporter of young Musicians and The Blues Foundation. He paid his own success forward by teaching music for the Children's Aid Society, working with the Harlem Arts Alliance and the New York City Jazzmobile.