Bill Hinkley, age 67, of Minneapolis, died Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at the Minneapolis VA Hospital. Blessed with prodigious recall, Bill mastered Chinese and Japanese while serving in the Air Force from 1961 - 1965. After leaving the Air Force Bill turned his attention to music. Always seeking knowledge, he taught himself guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, jug and a number of other traditional instruments; ever the player and instructor; he spent the rest of his life teaching others to play. Countless students learned their craft from him and, in doing so, found that a music lesson from Bill was, on a greater scale, a lesson in life. Bill's five-decade long career as a musician started with a gig at the Tokyo Grand Ole Opry in the early 1960's. After moving to Minneapolis in 1970 he joined the legendary Minneapolis group The Sorry Muthas and toured with them nationally. He became musical and life partner with Judy Larson in 1972. They helped inaugurate Garrison Keillor's radio show, A Prairie Home Companion and were featured regularly thereafter. They also toured nationally for decades. After a long engagement they married in 1990. They remained partners in life and music. Bill was loved and respected by all who knew him and he will be deeply missed by family, friends and the greater musical community. A celebration of Bill's life will be announced. RIP Bill. Boat for sale. Preceded in death by his parents Howard and Dorothy Hinkley, brother Seth Howard Hinkley, and sister Jane Lapchak. Survived by his wife, Judy Larson; daughter, Rebecca Nyros; granddaughter, Briana Nyros; sisters, Carolyn (Arthur) Green and Cindy (Richard) Reinking; nieces and nephews, Beth Kling, Sally Star, Mary Elizabeth, Seth James (Sara), Jennifer (Milo) Miller, Christina Lapchak, Sarah Lapchak, Alicia Lapchak, and Phillip Lapchak; and numerous grandnieces and grandnephews.

December 13, 1948 - September 29, 2005

As many of you know, we lost my old compadre Sean Blackburn in September, 2005. Sean and I worked together for ten years, singing, playing and traveling. He was my brother. In October we did a big memorial concert for him here in Minneapolis at the Cedar Cultural Center. In addition to myself, it featured performances by Liz Masterson, Pop Wagner, Jay Peterson, Butch Thompson, Peter Ostroushko, Prudence Johnson, Charlie Maguire, Bob Douglas, Rod Bellville, Cal Hand, John Ashton, Lonnie Knight, Jerry Rau, Adam Granger, Willie Murphy, Mike Dowling, Pat Donahue, Kari Larson, Mary DuShane, Bob Bovee & Gail Heil, Eric Peltoniemi, Becky Riemer Thompson, Bill Hinkley & Judy Larson, Tom Lieberman, Bill Smith, Phil Heywood, Dan Newton, Karl Smelker, Andy Cohen and a few others, I think. It was an incredible mind-blowing and healing event the likes of which I've never been a part of. A wonderful send-off. After expenses we raised about a thousand bucks which will hopefully go to a couple of things: a memorial plaque housed at the Cedar Cultural Center listing the local roots musicians and friends who have left us: people like Lazy Bill Lucas, Soupy Milton Schindler, Craig Ruble, Dave Ray, Steve Alarik, Dean Carr, Joel Johnson and, of course, Sean, with plenty of room to add to as needed. With any additional money we'd like to have a fund to subsidize concerts here in the Twin Cities that might not happen otherwise, in Sean’s name. People like Glenn Ohrlin who are incredible and not well known here would benefit from this. So would our entire community. If you'd care to contribute to this lofty cause you can send your donation to: The Sean Blackburn Memorial Fund 1661 Englewood Avenue St. Paul, Mn. 55104 Dave

June 30, 1936 - February 10, 2002

It's still hard to believe that Dave's gone. He was a huge influence on me both musically and personally. I'll never forget so many evenings through the years spent sitting down to one of Dave's legendary meals followed by hours of Vivaldi, Joseph Lamb, Scott Joplin, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, John Kirby, Duke Ellington, Mississippi John Hurt, Rev. Gary Davis - the list goes on and on. What an experience, always something new, always another surprise. I loved that guy. Thanks for everything, bro.