The late musician, known as the "Godfather of Freak Folk" was influential to a generation of singer-songwriters including Will Oldham and Lucinda WilliamsMichael Hurley, a folk musician, cartoonist and painter,

The influential singer/songwriter was a part of the Greenwich Village folk music scene of the 1960s and 1970s.

Michael Hurley, the eccentric singer and songwriter who pioneered the "freak-folk" movement and inspired generations of artists, has died. He was 83."It is with a resounding sadness that the Hurley family announces the recent sudden passing of the inimitable Michael Hurley,