Hicks, Robert
Robert Hicks is a preservationist, music publisher, artist manager, historian, art collector, and novelist.
Hicks's childhood was divided between a small town in South Florida and Hicksville, Tennessee. He arrived in Williamson County, TN, in 1974, settling at his cabin, 'Labor in Vain,' in 1979. Hicks has worked for two decades as a music publisher and manager for both country and rock artists.
His home has become legendary for his 'guitar pulls,' attracting everyone from Keith Richards, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and John Hiatt, to unknown (but just as talented) waitresses and house painters.
His first book, NASHVILLE: THE PILGRIMS OF GUITAR TOWN (Stewart, Tabori, & Chang/2000), chronicling the hopes and dreams that musicians bring to Nashville, was a collaboration with the French photographer, Michel Arnaud.
A partner in the B.B. King's Blues Clubs in Nashville, Memphis, and Los Angeles, Hicks serves as 'Curator of Vibe' for the corporation.
His advocacy for historic preservation within his community has received national attention. He has served on the boards of the Tennessee State Museum, the Williamson County Historical Society, the Tennessee Valley Preservation Alliance, and the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts.
In December 1997, after a third term as president, and in light of his years of service to the site, Hicks was named by board resolution, 'The Driving Force in the Restoration and Preservation of Historic Carnton Plantation' - the setting for his first novel, THE WIDOW OF THE SOUTH.
He has spent the last two years working with "Franklin's Charge," a vision and campaign for the preservation of historic open space in the fight to secure and preserve both battlefield and other historic open space in Williamson County. The April issue of National Geographic features the battlefield preservation work that Hicks now oversees.
Franklin's Charge has now taken on a massive vision to save the eastern flank of the battlefield at Franklin - the largest remaining undeveloped fragment of battlefield - and protect it as public parkland forever.
Hicks served as co-curator with Ben Caldwell and Mark Scala on the exhibition "Art of Tennessee" at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts as well as co-editor of the exhibition's award-winning catalog, "Art of Tennessee" (UT Press/September 2003).
He is the first Tennessean to be listed among the 'Top 100 Collectors in America' by Arts and Antiques, so named for six years running. The focus of his collection remains outsider art and Southern material culture.
