148: Michael Hicks--Musician, Artist, Teacher, Jesus Freak, Mormon

Latter-day Faith

In this wonderful, wide-ranging interview, LDF host Dan Wotherspoon speaks with Michael Hicks, a recently retired professor of Music at BYU, about his life, and especially his growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 60s and 70s. During this period, Michael became very active in the Jesus movement of the time, which has often been referred to as the time of the "Jesus Freaks." After several wonderful and exhausting years that included his playing the guitar and singing songs of Jesus at every school break, being part of a band made up of young Christians, joining a group that became known as Wineskins that served each Sunday at a state hospital and then opened up a gathering spot for anyone to come in an chat about anything (but especially Jesus) and then transforming into a home for alcoholics and addicts, Michael began to have conversations with a young Mormon woman and eventually joined the church. And that's when new adventures started! Very interesting ones.

All of this is talked about frankly and revealingly in his new book: Wineskin: Freaking Jesus in the '60s and '70s, a Memoir (Signature Books, 2023). In this interview, Michael and Dan talk about many of these but also only hint at many parts that would be difficult to share in anything but the written word, especially how they all wove together in creating the Michael of today. Learn about his Jesus experience that set his life on an entirely new track. Learn how very difficult experiences with this family, Wineskins, and Mormonism have been transmuted into gold. Michael is someone very much worth getting to know!