Johnny Nicholas
Johnny Nicholas has spent a lifetime soaking up the flavor of such vibrant music scenes as Chicago, Southwest Louisiana, and Texas (which he’s called home now for 45 years). While he is primarily thought of as a blues legend and gifted storyteller, his music is full-spectrum Americana — a rich gumbo of blues, Southwest Louisiana soul and Texas swing and honky tonk. His 2018 release “Too Many Bad Habits” reissue project and double vinyl package received a 2019 Grammy Nomination.
“Johnny Nicholas is an extremely engaging innovative traditionalist. [He] writes instant classics and sings them to break your heart and rock your soul.”
– Marcia Ball
Make no mistake: Johnny Nicholas knows from the blues. His credentials? Impeccable. Conviction? Immeasurable. And chops? If an instrument’s got strings, keys, or reeds, rest assured he can play the hell out of it — he is a consummate songwriter and storyteller and he’s no slouch of a singer, either, blessed with a warm, toasty growl of a voice that can roll from rumble to croon and back again with seductive ease.
You can blame part of that on his mentors: Having learned just about everything he knows about the blues firsthand from the likes of Rosevelt Sykes, Robert Lockwood Jr., Mississippi Fred McDowell, Big Walter Horton, and Johnny Shines (to name but a few of the legends he played with and studied under early in his five-decade career), Nicholas couldn’t betray his real-deal authenticity for the sake of “faking it” if he tried. But as deep and true as his blues roots go, the simple fact of the matter is that Johnny Nicholas does not paint in one musical color.
For proof, just take a listen to Nicholas’ most satisfyingly eclectic collection of original American roots music yet, 2022’s Mistaken Identity on Valcour Records. As the esteemed writer Bill Bentley puts it best, “He’s someone who cares about being real, and the hell with everything else ... .”