Jared James Nichols

In the organizer's words:

Jared James Nichols: The new blues-rock guitar god live in Germany Four shows around the current album "Jared James Nichols"

Support: Afrodiziac

At first it seems a little strange to honor a comparatively young man in his mid-30s, who has released just three studio albums so far, with the highest honors as the "new guitar god". But these are not his words, but those of those who are familiar with the subject: From the major specialist magazines to his fellow musicians and his own great heroes such as Joe Bonamassa, Peter Frampton, Billy Gibbons, Slash and Steve Vai, all of whom he has shared the stage with: they are all extremely impressed by his playing. And it's by no means just about his adept technique, which combines dizzyingly fast arpeggios with his very own artistic "pick-less" style, in which the strings are merely tapped with the fingertips instead of plucked. Even more important is his whole presence as a charismatic performer full of groove, heart and a living blues-rock soul that only very few musicians possess. This is one of the reasons why Nichols, who was born in 1989 in the small town of Waukesha in Wisconsin and absorbed the heart and history of blues rock as a young boy, was named one of only four "Global Ambassadors" worldwide by the legendary guitar brand Gibson. And rightly so: he has only ever been seen on stage with one of his two vintage Gibsons Les Pauls from the 1950s, a model that is associated more with the old blues legends than with modern rock music. Guitarwolrd promptly wrote: "James Jared Nichols actually makes the Les Paul look really cool again."
His connection to the Gibson brand is as long as his career: when Nichols moved to Los Angeles in 2010, one of his first official acts was to take part in the "Gibson Les Paul Tribute Contest" - which he of course won, as he did in all subsequent contests. Within just a few months, word had spread throughout California that there was a new talent not to be missed.
There is a simple reason why Nichols has only released three studio albums in the 15 years since then (all of which are undoubtedly excellent and were also produced by one of his own heroes): studio work is not his favorite discipline, he belongs on stage and in live jam sessions. It is only logical that he recorded his current album "Jared James Nichols" in the same way as he plays live: Live, without overdubs or post-daily corrections with his power trio of himself, Ryan Rice on drums and Louis Collins on bass. Which is ultimately just an invitation to the listener to see him live. Because if you don't, Guitarwold writes, "you've missed something you won't see a second time."