Boone County rockabilly pioneer and cult music icon Hasil Adkins was
found dead at his home near Bull Creek on Tuesday. He was 68. Boone County
Sheriff¹s Deputy J.M. Thompson said friends discovered Adkins¹ body. ³They
had talked to him about 4:30 Monday afternoon, and they told him they¹d be
by on Tuesday,² Thompson said. When they knocked on the door, Adkins didn¹t
answer, so they went inside to check on the performer, who lived alone.
Thompson said Adkins¹ body was sent to the state Medical Examiner¹s Office,
but that he appeared to have died of natural causes. Adkins cut some minor
rockabilly records in the 1960s, but had little artistic success until he
was discovered by music cultists in the 1980s. During his lifetime, he
recorded thousands of scratchy, low-fidelity records on a primitive
reel-to-reel tape recorder in his living room. Many of his tunes, virtually
devoid of melody, were accompanied by Adkins¹ frenetic guitar wailing and
drum-pounding. He sent them to everyone ‹ including President Richard Nixon
‹ in an attempt to make the big time. ³One thing about Hasil¹s reel-to-reel
tapes: They¹ll have Cheese-Whiz and crumbs and dirt on them, so you have to
run them through once to transfer ¹em, then put the originals away,² Billy
Miller, whose Norton Records released much of Adkins¹ music, once said.
Adkins was playing by the age of 10. Convinced that Hank Williams played
all the instruments on his recordings and sang at the same time, Adkins
taught himself to simultaneously play drums, guitar or other instruments
while he screeched his high-pitched vocals. Adkins attracted a huge national
and international cult following of fans fascinated with his primitive,
highly emotional style. He toured the country extensively, and it was not
uncommon for fans to travel from Europe just to watch his antics. Adkins
was frequently too drunk to perform, but often did anyway. Legend has it
the singer was annoyed by a ceiling fan while trying to play at a club in
New York. Without missing a beat, he allegedly pulled out a pistol and shot
the offending fan to the ground. ³He¹s a wild man, but he is also a great
musician,² Miller said. ³A lot of people think he¹s just bashing away
because he goes way out of tune when he plays, but he actually has perfect
pitch. He¹ll break a string in a show and replace it with a piece of
fishing wire lying in the parking lot ‹ he might come home and have some
fishing line, a banjo string, some wire that was wrapped around a barrel
[six wires, none of which are guitar strings] but they¹re all tuned
perfectly.²