Born on Beech Mountain, NC on October 12, 1911, Stanley was surrounded by a musical family. His grandfather and father taught him to make dulcimers and fretless banjos out of fresh woods, mainly walnut, maple and cherry, and banjo heads from groundhog skins.

Foxfire Records collected some of his performances for their album, It Still Lives, and Hicks made his own album as well. The Appalachian Cultural Center at Appalachian State University holds a videotape with several of his Jack Tales as part of their collection. Hicks received Brown-Hudson Award in 1980, the highest award of the North Carolina Folklore Society. Three years later, the Folk Arts Program of the National Endowment of the Arts presented with the National Heritage Fellowship, a federal award.

Like many musicians, Hicks was also a farmer, and he enjoyed working on his farm on Stone Mountain. Despite his awards and albums, Hicks' lasting legacy is his finale of "Amazing Grace" at the end of a performance at a church in Watauga County.

Stanley Hicks - Edd Presnell - Albert Hash