by TERRY MULLINS. It was one of those profound moments in life, a time when things almost come full circle. A time when a student has the opportunity to thank his teacher for lessons learned. Even if that teacher didn’t realize at the time that he was really teaching.
“There was this man back when I was young – Raymond Manier – he didn’t go to our church, but his church would visit ours and he would sing. And I so badly wanted to sing like that man … I never told him that, but I really wanted to sing like he could,” said iconic Nashville bluesman James ‘Nick’ Nixon. “Then over 20 years later, we were doing a Blues in the Schools in Lebanon, Tennessee and there was a man that worked at the school there as a custodian. And it was him. I told him who I was and he said, “Yeah, I remember you.’ We got to talking and I told him that I wanted to become a singer because of hearing him sing in church. He said that he never knew that, so that was a special moment … really exciting.”
Even though he’s now in his 70s, Nixon’s voice still has all the power and energy of a man half his age and it’s crystal clear that this man was born to sing the blues. Nixon’s pairing with guitarist Andy Talamantez on the Andy T – Nick Nixon Band’s superb Drink Drank Drunk (Delta Groove) is proof positive of that. READ MORE