Jared James Nichols: Most Wanted Blues Guitarist (INTERVIEW)

Oh to be young and talented. The past few years have seen a bumper crop of youthful up and coming musicians hitting the circuit and being recognized for their fresh new sounds. ZZ Ward comes to mind, Rival Sons and Jonathan Tyler. Add to that list Jared James Nichols, a tall and lanky blues guitar player who has already won not only the 2011 Les Paul Tribute Contest but several others as well. With his new EP, Old Glory & The Wild Revival, debuting in July, he has become the genre’s brand new Most Wanted.

“I’m staying busy,” Nichols laughed when I asked how he was riding this new high. Born and bred in Wisconsin, discovering the blues from authentic players who encouraged and mentored him during his teens, Nichols has taken these ingredients and whipped up a concoction that one minute sizzles with rock and the next minute simmers with soul. The five songs that make up his new recording are perfect for announcing him further into the spotlight: “Take My Hand” percolates with swampy mud-caked blues while “Blackfoot” speeds past you like lightning escaping a cloud; “Sometimes” hums with a Jonny Lang infectiousness, “Can You Feel It?” boogie woogies with a hint of Billy Gibbons shuffle while “Let You Go” is a nice ballad that refrains from going too far into the pop mish mash.

So this week we join the revelers in singing our praises for Jared James Nichols while we attempt to get to know him a little better before stardom falls into his lap.

I understand that you put out a live CD last year. Isn’t that kind of backwards?

(laughs) Yeah, you know it kind of is, you’re right. The reason behind that is at that point the band had just gotten together, the guys that I’m playing with now on the new CD. But we didn’t have a budget yet to get in the studio and go for it with a whole recording. Our favorite thing to do, and my favorite thing to do, is play live. That’s where I feel like the interaction comes and it’s really inspiring. So at that point we just figured, we want to put out some music without being in the studio and we love to play live and our performances are always, we feel, inspired and energetic. So let’s just put out a live disc. And we put that out last March, I believe.

How did it do?

It did very well within like the guitar community. We didn’t do much promo for it. We were just kind of getting our feet wet but it got reviewed by different magazines like Guitar Player, Guitar World, a lot of different online blues reviews and stuff like that and it did pretty well. But you know, we didn’t push it at all. It was just kind of putting out the testers to see what everyone thought of it. But now, fast-forward to this time around, and now we’re really pushing it. We’ve got the songs together and we got everything together.

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There are a variety of songs on your new EP. Was that your intention, to give people a taste of everything you can do?

Right, with the new EP, I wanted to cover a lot of ground. I wanted to express all the different ways and all the different sounds I love in music. I approached it with the same live attitude as the last EP and I wanted it to paint a really authentic honest approach. I didn’t want it to become something that would take forever to finish or would turn into a big long project. Basically, we approached it with, let’s go in the studio for about four days and let’s take these new songs and lets record them and see how they sound and see how we feel about them. So with all the different music, I tried to approach on some different new territories that were new for me and the band. But also the CD retains the same blues feel throughout the whole disc, although we touch upon so many different genres and different themes. If you asked me, it’s still all the same blues but in different contexts.

Did you have a lot of songs to choose from when you went in to record?

The way we approached it is, I’ve been writing now for a few years and we’ve been performing and playing the songs live that I’ve written now for a few years. But the way I wanted to approach this disc is, I wanted to get really fresh on it. So about four months ago I started collaborating with different songwriters, trying to see if there was anything or anyone out there that I really gelled with, and came up with some really solid music together. It took me a minute to find certain grooves that I really liked with other people. Then I met this guy named Warren Huart. He’s a pretty famous record producer and an engineer and I met him at Swing House Studios when he was working with Aerosmith on their last record. We come from the same background musically and we all love the same kind of blues and some rock stuff, different kinds of Jazz. We sat down and we started writing and we just automatically gelled together and I said, “You know, I want to do this, I want to do the next recording with you.” And we sat and we wrote four of the songs that are on the new EP together. So basically these songs are about two and a half months old, so they’re still really fresh. When we play them live, they’re still new to me and the band so it’s still exciting, very exciting.

Have you noticed when you’re playing them live if you are changing them any from what you have on the CD?

Yeah, you know, I always feel like I never play the same thing twice, kind of, so there are minor changes kind of all over the place. But the way that I feel, and the band feels, about the songs when we recorded them, and we felt really good about the way they sounded and the way they were structured, but I might take a little longer of a guitar solo once in a while, switch up a few of the lyrics, but basically they are the same songs you hear on the EP.

jared-james-nichols-cover-2The last track is a real swampy sounding song called “Take My Hand.” It’s a great song.

That was an added song at the end. I didn’t want to really release four songs, we got to at least do five, and I’d been working on that little slide guitar part for a little while and I said, “You know what, let’s record something with this,” and that’s what came up. I’m really happy that you like that one.

How do you create your music?

All the time it’s different, the way that it comes to me and it comes out. But one basic thing that I always seem to do is, I’ll just be walking around, whether it’s at the grocery store or driving my car or whatever, and all of a sudden I’ll just start humming. I’ll hum a little guitar riff or a little vocal melody and if it comes to me and I’m like, this is pretty good, I will take it and I will record it on my phone. Then I’ll come home and when I have a minute I’ll listen back to it and try and go off it. I’ll pick up a guitar and I’ll start jamming along and come up with different ideas. Then I’ll record that and I’ll let that kind of sit and then I’ll see where it goes from there.

But I’ve never been a guy that approached songs really constructively, like these are my parts and this is it. I try and keep it very natural and flowing. I don’t want songs to come across too stale or too thought out and pretentious, so basically I’ll get a little idea and take it to the band; or with these ones I took them to Warren and we sat down for an hour and we kind of just hashed it out. Whatever feels good. But I always love songs that just come about from a jam perspective. Most of my favorite kinds of music, like blues and all the improve style music, it all comes from ideas and riffs and jamming. And I think that is probably the best. It’s honest and it’s straight from the heart. And you can never beat that.

What was it like going into a recording studio for the first time and making a record? Was it everything you imagined it to be like?

You know, it was but it wasn’t. When I was coming up I always thought, yeah, we’ll record. But I never thought about it in that much detail. But I would have to say going to the recording studio for the first time getting ready to record, I was nervous, I was excited; every emotion was going through me. What I did know was that I was ready. I wasn’t relying on anyone else, it was just, ok, I’ve put in this work and I’ve put in all this time honing my craft for all these years, ten/twelve hours a day, and now’s the time I get to share it with everyone. So I felt really, really happy about that. Me and the band rehearsed so much before we went into the studio to cut the tracks but I think it was everything I hoped it would be. A lot of music recorded today is recorded digitally so you lose all the things I love about those old recordings, the bumps and bruises of the actual recordings and how different songs sound different and were recorded different. I always loved that about old recordings when I listen to all the old fifties Chess stuff and all the greats. But we actually took this recording and we didn’t record it on a computer. We recorded it all to tape. There was an old tape machine and we used that for all the tracking. It was kind of surreal to be using a tape machine just like they did back in the day when all my favorite records were done. So was it everything I hoped and dreamed for? Definitely.

jaredandstevenYou’ve been around some legendary people, playing with them or opening up their shows. What have you picked up from them the most?

What I’ve picked up from all the different people I’ve met along the way that has been very successful, or not very successful, the ones that I remember and the ones that I really learned a lot from were the honest-to-goodness genuine people. Not so much musicians, just people. Like you could talk to them, they didn’t think they were big stars or anything. As funny as it is, one of the most down-to-earth people that I met this past year was Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. He took me under his wing and taught me some really good stuff about songwriting and guidance. I know he’s portrayed as such an over-the-top rock star but what I learned from him was that you’ve got to work hard and you really have to love what you’re doing and you have to be passionate. The people that I learned the most from are the ones that are like that; that at the end of the day, you would want to go and talk to them and learn from them or hang out with them. A lot of the old blues guys that I’ve met and that I’ve gotten to play with, they’ve been nothing but generous and so kind to me. So the thing that I’ve learned the most is to just stay true to who you are and just take all this as an art form and share it with everyone.

You’ve talked before about some of your influences, like Stevie Ray Vaughan. But you also mention Son House. That is not a name you hear every day anymore.

Definitely not

Why him? What do you love about Son House and all that really old blues music?

I’ve been into the old acoustic blues stuff since I was about fifteen, sixteen, years old. I used to go to blues jams all the time and I got to hang out with some of the last real, old guys. One of the guys that took me under his wing and showed me a lot of great stuff was a guy named Big Jim Johnson. He was from Mississippi and he used to play with guys like Slim Harpo, he knew a lot of the Chicago guys, he was friends with Buddy Guy and Junior Wells and Little Walter and all these great old blues guys. He came from that school of that old Resonator delta blues and it was amazing to listen to him play. I would just go to his house and listen all day and he would play songs for me. He’s the one that was like the gateway into all that stuff. Once I heard Robert Johnson, Bukka White, all the Reverend Gary Davis, it just opened up a whole new world to me of soulful music that was just pure, unfiltered, honest music. And Son House, when I listen to Son House, it’s like when I listen to Robert Johnson and all these guys: It’s just pure emotion coming through the music. And that’s what struck me as the ultimate, because you know, music these days you don’t get that. And when you listen to those old recordings or the old field hollers, any of that old stuff, it’s just amazing to hear the emotion coming through the music, and you can feel it and it’s just power. And I would never turn my back on that or misuse that but I honestly believe that that’s the biggest source of my inspiration, the authentic blues. Every day I listen to blues music and that’s where I really get all my inspiration.

And you build from that and make it your own

Exactly, even like the song on the EP, “Let You Go.” That main riff, all that is is just an old blues riff with a different kind of feel on it. So it’s like all this stuff is drawn from the same well and it’s just like you said, taking that and going somewhere else with it.

Where were you born and raised and what are your first memories of music?

I was born and raised in East Troy, Wisconsin, which is near the border of Illinois and Wisconsin. Honestly, I didn’t get into music until I was fourteen. My brother had a guitar and he played a little bit but it basically sat around. I always listened to the radio. My first musical influences were stuff that my dad listened to, which was like Patsy Cline and Waylon Jennings, more old country stuff. I used to love to sing that stuff and I knew every lyric to every Patsy Cline song when I was like eight years old (laughs). But the thing about it was I wanted to be a drummer because I had a lot of energy as a little guy and my parents said, “You know, you can’t be a drummer, it’s going to be too loud (laughs). Why don’t you try and play guitar.” And I was like, “Oh man, I don’t want to do that. Everybody plays guitar.” Then one day I was bored and I started messing around with that old guitar and I started playing little riffs, like Johnny Cash and Led Zeppelin and all the stuff kids play. From there I showed a little promise. After about two weeks I was getting pretty good and I think it was like a three-string guitar, you know. It didn’t have all the strings. I got upgraded to an electric guitar and that’s basically when it kicked in. When I heard all that blues stuff, it was just like overnight it changed me and I knew exactly where I wanted to go with it.

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You’re still really, really young but what do you think is your strongest asset as a musician and what is something that you feel like you need to work on?

I think my strongest asset as a musician is I’m able to express myself fully playing music as an artist. I know where I want to go with the music and it’s all honest and it’s all just me, as far as what’s on the EP and when you hear me play live. It’s an honest thing. I’m not trying to play a role of anyone. It just comes out as Jared. As far as what I’d like to work on more, I would like to just keep developing and evolving with songwriting, exploring completely different genres. I want to collaborate as much as possible. I’d love to work with some traditional blues acts or would love to work with great female singers. So if I could work on anything, it would definitely be just to keep honing my focus and drive as a songwriter, to come up with great memorable songs that everyone can enjoy.

Is that how you are going to make yourself stand out amongst all these other young guitar players?

There’s so many guys, just like you said, there is so many great players, whether they be blues, rock, Jazz, all around the world, and it’s really, really hard to stand out. You have to be different and you have to kind of stick to your guns a little bit more. I had to find the stuff that really got me excited about playing. I drew that from the electric blues guys of the sixties and seventies, Freddie King, Albert King, all the way back to the old acoustic blues. I changed certain things about the way I played guitar because I noticed that all the great musicians and all the great guitar players, they all have their own sound. And that’s the great thing about blues is Albert King or BB King could play one note and we know it’s him. The way I think to survive is to be original. There’s already been a Stevie Ray and there’s already been a Jimi Hendrix but there’s always room for new original music. So I think that definitely helps you stand out from the pack.

Performing is not new for you. You’ve done hundreds of shows. What was it like the first time you stepped onto a stage?

I remember the exact time. I went to this blues jam at this old blues club called The Silver Moon back in Wisconsin. My mom took me there as a surprise. I didn’t even have my guitar on me. We walk in the club and she goes up to the bartender and the guy who is running the jam and says, “Hey, this is my son and he plays guitar.” I’m fourteen and I could barely play. And he goes, “Oh yeah? Is he any good?” And she goes, “Oh yeah, he’s really good.” There’s all these heavy, real deal blues cats playing        up there and I’m like, whoa, these guys are amazing. And basically he goes, “Well, we got an old guitar in the back for him. Let’s get him up here in about twenty minutes.” And when he said that, my mouth just dropped (laughs). I remember going into the bathroom to wash my face off and clean up before I went on the stage and one of the old veteran blues guys came up to me and was like, “You know, you got to approach this like my dad with me. I couldn’t swim so he just threw me in the lake. And that’s what’s happening to you right now.”

I was so nervous. I remember going on stage and they gave me this old guitar, like a straight–up blues guitar, and I was so nervous I couldn’t even plug the cord into the amplifier. I was shaking so bad. Then they announced my name and after that moment, after about ten minutes, the jitters wore off and I started having fun. And that’s when it all started. Ever since then, I went back to that place until I was eighteen, two or three nights a week to play. They couldn’t get rid of me after a while (laughs). So I was definitely nervous but after a few weeks, I felt like, you know what, this feels great, this is where I need to be. And now, when I get up on stage, there’s no better place to be. I feel completely at home with it.

Do you remember what songs you played up there?

Oh man, the first song we played, I think it was “300 Pounds Of Joy.” No, it was called “Built For Comfort” by Howlin’ Wolf. It’s a really easy kind of bluesy shuffle and they just let me solo and it’s kind of funny, there I was playing Howlin’ Wolf songs and flash forward like two years later and I got to play and sit in with Howlin’ Wolf’s guitar player Hubert Sumlin and do those same exact songs. It was really amazing.

What do you have planned for the rest of this year?

We’re going to do a tour in support of the new EP and after that, I just plan on writing and keep on developing. Take everything I learned from this experience and take everything that I learn from this upcoming tour and head back into the work mode and get together and start writing some more great songs and release a full-length here in the near future. That’s my goal.

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3 Responses

  1. Excellent article, covers a lot of ground and really gives good insight into Jared. I just heard him play in a tiny club in Walnut Creek, CA last night with Dennis Holm (drums) and Eric Sandlin (bass) and what a treat. Really tight yet freewheeling 3 man band that just blew our hair back. Truly nice guys, too. It felt like we were in the presence of the real thing. What was so refreshing was even though they’ve been on the road, doing their own driving, roughing it, they took the time to jam with musicians and vocalists who play in a jam-club at the venue (Redhouse Studios). We had so much fun and they were so generous. None of us will forget it. It was all about the music, the flow, the real-time interactions between everyone onstage.

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