Johnny Nicholas

Though often regarded as a Texas blues musician, Johnny Nicholas actually developed his skills across the Midwest, frequenting the blues circuits of Providence, Detroit, and Chicago throughout the 1960s. He served as frontman for Ann Arbor's Boogie Brothers in the early 1970s, when that style of music enjoyed peak popularity in the college town known for its devotion to live sounds. After relocating to Texas, a state renowned for its rich traditions across multiple musical forms as well as blues, he immersed himself at once. He performed Cajun material with Link Davis and joined Western swing sessions alongside the Grammy-winning Austin band Asleep at the Wheel. He also laid down tracks with blues master Big Walter Horton during a 1977 Chicago session. For the next decade he withdrew from the music industry to raise a family. He and his partner launched a thriving restaurant, which kept Nicholas away from blues until the early 1990s. He returned at a measured pace, playing guitar locally and on the festival circuit. Nicholas assembled a band drawn from favorite musicians in San Antonio and Austin. In 1994 he recorded Thrill on the Hill for the Antone's label, followed by Rockin' My Blues to Sleep: Texas/Louisiana Blues and Dance Hall Favorites on Hilltop.