Johnny Nicholas

Johnny Nicholas
Background information
Also known as	Guitar Johnny
Born	1948
Genres	Blues rock
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1958 - 1981 1991 - present
Labels	Top Cat Records
Website	Hill Top Cafe.com

Johnny Nicholas (b. 1948) is a blues musician. He was most noted for as being a member of the Grammy Award winning group Austin, Texas based Western swing band Asleep at the Wheel.

History

Nicholas grew up in Rhode Island, where he formed his first band, The Vikings. The band performed cover songs of popular rhythm and blues hits of the time, along with songs by the Rolling Stones. In the mid-1960s, he formed the Black Cat Blues Band with Duke Robillard, Fran Christina and Steve Nardella. Around 1970, he formed the Boogie Brothers with Nardella. After attending the Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1970, the band eventually moved on to San Francisco, California in 1972 pre-request of Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen.

By 1974, Nicholas had moved to Chicago, Illinois and began playing with Big Walter Horton. During his time in Chicago, he would record music with Walter, Boogie Woogie Red and Robert Lockwood, Jr. In 1974, he created his own single, Too Many Bad Habits for Blind Pig Records. Moving back to Providence, Rhode Island, he formed his own band, Johnny Nicholas and the Rhythm Rockers, which included Kaz Kazanoff on saxophone, Terry Bingham on drums, Sarah Brown on bass guitar and Ronnie Earle on electric guitar.

Nicholas began his stint with Asleep at the Wheel in 1978, when the band asked him to perform with them. During his off time, he would travel to various cities for solo shows, but would often visit Louisiana to play with Link Davis and Cajun accordion player Nathan Abshire.

By 1980, however, Nicholas decided to take time off from music in order to raise a family. He was also noted as being fed up with the scene, stating "the whole thing got so reversed it became a parody of blues." Between 1981 and 1990, Nicholas and his new wife Brenda owned and managed a roadside restaurant (formally a gas station) called the Hill Top Café near Fredericksburg, Texas. After fathering three boys, Nicholas returned to recording blues music with Johnny Shines and Snooky Pryor on the album Back to the Country in 1991. Since then, he has released one studio album and three live albums on Topcat Records while also returning to regular live shows.

Picture of Johnny Nicholas in 2007 at 'Rhythm and Roots' Concert in Ninagret, Rhode Island photo used permission of William Campbell. http://www.rebop.com/johnny-nicholas/johnny-nicholas-close-up.jpg

Discography

• 1978 Too Many Bad Habits - Blind Pig
• 1988 Broke Again - Hill Top Records
• 1994 Thrill on the Hill - Antone's
• 2001 Rockin' My Blues to Sleep - Topcat
• 2005 Livin' with the Blues - Topcat
• 2006 Texas All-Star: Big Band Bash - TopCat

References

• Johnny's Official site
• Johnny's 'old' Official site
• Illustrated discography of Nicholas
• Johnny Nicholas at Allmusic