Charlotte NC singer , Dale Hilliard, passes

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 7 Apr 2009 3:11 am

For those of us in the Charlotte NC area , I heard last night that Dale Hilliard passed this week. Dale ran the open mic up at Puckett's on Thursdays and had been doing this for several years. Dale was a nice singer and a calm and laid back man. I used to go up to Puckett's on Thursdays and sit in when Dale had his band with him and we always had a good time. Dale recently started pickin' Bass and had a good ear and feel for it.

I believe Dale was 65, he just retired and from what I know this was a very sudden passing with no history of any issues.

RIP my friend

tony

David Collins · Post by **David Collins** » 8 Apr 2009 8:57 am

Tony,

Sorry for the loss of your friend. Please pass my condolences to the family.

David

Paul Graupp · Post by **Paul Graupp** » 8 Apr 2009 9:51 am

Tony: I cannot be very sure but years ago, when I was with the Briarhopper Gang in Raleigh, we had a guest spot by a singer from Charlotte and the name sounds very familiar. The name Briarhopper, as I recall, was from the Charlotte area and goes back to early 1800's.

Regards, Paul