Dan Hicks started playing drums at age eleven and took up the guitar at twenty. He landed in the original Charlatans, with whom he played from 1965 to 1968. During his last six months with the Charlatans, he began playing with his own group, including violinist David LaFlamme, who later formed the band It's a Beautiful Day. Dan Hicks wrote wry, jazzy, ironic songs and the band's music was a blend of the Andrews Sisters, Western swing, ragtime, and jazz. Following the group's breakup in 1974, Hicks has been sporadically active as a solo artist and still tours with his new band, the Acoustic Warriors.