Michael Hurley

The Profile

Michael Hurley (born December 20, 1941, Pennsylvania) is an American singer‑songwriter from the Greenwich Village folk milieu. He debuted with First Songs on Folkways (1965), later joined forces on the cult Have Moicy! (1976), and issued enduring albums including Armchair Boogie, Hi Fi Snock Uptown, Long Journey, and The Time Of The Foxgloves. Known for idiosyncratic songwriting, country‑blues inflections, and hand‑drawn artwork.

Debut: First Songs (Folkways, 1965). Associated with the Holy Modal Rounders/Jeffrey Frederick on Have Moicy! (1976). Songs covered by the Youngbloods. Later releases include Ancestral Swamp (2007), Ida Con Snock (2009), Bad Mr. Mike (2016), and The Time Of The Foxgloves (2021).

One glowing review hails Michael Hurley’s debut First Songs as a revelatory, minimalist gem recorded in 1964 and released by Folkways. It frames Hurley as an outsider-folk figure from the Greenwich Village orbit, with songs later picked up by the Youngbloods. The write-up nods to Have Moicy! with the Unholy Modal Rounders and to his 2016 album Bad Mr. Mike for Mississippi Records. Highlights include the stark instrumentation and vivid tracks like Sister Song, The Tea Song, and a spoken-word cut.