Nick Hexum

Nick Hexum first rose to prominence as the singer and guitarist in the rap/reggae/pop band 311, yet he has also carved out a separate path as a relaxed solo performer steeped in jazz and soul influences, appearing alongside his brother, guitarist Zack Hexum, under the name Nick Hexum Quintet. He entered the world in Wisconsin in 1970 and spent his formative years in Omaha, Nebraska, where he participated in the high-school jazz ensemble and started multiple local rock groups. A short period in Los Angeles during the late eighties preceded his return to Omaha, where he and longtime friend Chad Sexton assembled the project that later evolved into 311. Throughout the nineties and into the first years of the new century, Hexum continued to tour and record with the group as it issued multiple commercially dominant albums. In 2004 he and his brother Zac—who had received a jazz degree from North Texas University in 2000—joined the road effort backing presidential hopeful John Kerry. The siblings reunited once more in 2013 to launch the Nick Hexum Quintet’s first release, My Shadow Pages, consisting entirely of original songs penned by Nick.