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born to blow the blues
Nico
Wayne Toussaint. was born on august 1973 in Toulon, France
and started listening to
blues at the age of 15 by picking records from his father's
lps collection. One of them was Muddy Waters' Hard Again,
which forever changed his life. he continued listening
to a lot of blues till he was 18 and then started the harmonica.
Three years later he started a band with his dad on piano.
After 1992 Nico began visiting the US on a yearly
basis, thanks to his godfather who was living
in Minneapolis. Later on he got to actually live
near Minneapolis for one year, teaching french in a College.
He recorded his first cd in 1997 and that album got him
to record 9 more over the past 13 years for a European
label Dixiefrog. He has been touring and playing music
for a living since 1998.
Vent du Sud (Southern Wind)
is the name of his first band founded when he was 20 with
his father on piano. For three years, the two of them plus
some other musicians added to the band over the years,
toured all around the south west of France from bars to
campings and from campings to festivals. In 1996 he went
out on his own with a band under his own name Nico and
Friends , doing straight Chicago Blues, as his father
went forward with his own cajun band.
Nico's middle name, Wayne
, comes from his American godfather, Wayne Ready, former
resident of Minneapolis , Minnesota . From1992 on, Nico
has maintained an almost annual relation with the United
States since his first trip there. One of the most significant
stays that he did was in 1996-1997 when Nico took a position
as a French Teaching Assistant in Carleton College , Minnesota
. On each one of those visits to the US , he has spent
a lot of time watching and listening to blues concerts,
between Minneapolis , New Orleans and Chicago. |
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Also on many occasions,
the young man got to sit in with great musicians such as Jimmy
Johnson, R.J. Mischo, Billy Branch, Luther Allison, Eddy C.
Campbell, Cash Mc Call, Willy Kent to name a few. Says Nico, "It
happened to me at a young age, an age where those experiences
have great impact on my musical education. In 1997, I recorded
my first CD in Minneapolis C'est si Bon backed up by local
musicians. "
My Kind of Blues
Nico has just released his new album “Lonely
Number” on
Dixiefrog, recorded in Montreal last june. That cd will also
be distributed in Canada and comes out in North America on the
label Iguane
Records. He will begin touring that album in february
2012.
Nico always records a majority
of originals on his cds. He used to write all of the material,
but now, he works some lyrics out with an american guitarist
and singer from Texas, Neal Black, who lives in France. The latest
album features also songs written by his drummer and the bass
player. In studio, Nico tends to record “live” as
much as possible. Although coming from a very solid Chicago
Blues background ,he often loves to approach other genres of
music with his chicago-blues-way-to-do. Says Nico, "I've
incorporated some rock n'roll tunes, some african, even latin
american songs and my one before the last album was all in french,
more ballads and pop. So this new cd sounds like a big come back
to the blues and to my roots. It has some great guests on it,
such as Rod Piazza, David Maxwell or even JP Soars."
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His collaboration
with Dixiefrog
Records goes back to 1998 with the album
My Kind of Blues , recorded in one night in Minneapolis
, with musicians from R.J Mischo¹s band. Nico has
recorded three other cds on Dixiefrog before releasing
in 2004 a double live album Transatlantic Live recorded
in France and in the US, it has been acclaimed by both
the audience and critics, since it's release.
Nico keeps extremely busy,
playing over 100 gigs a year all over the country but also
in Europe (Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Macedonia
, Italy) and other parts of the world (Canada, USA, Ecuador,
Syria).
To celebrate his 10 years
of recording career, on Dixiefrog
Records Nico released a new production
Southern Wind Blowin' , recorded only with his touring
band members Rax Lacour on guitars, Antoine Perrut on bass
and alto sax and Vincent Thomas on drums in
March 2007. This CD is a tribute to the music from the
south of United States , blues, cajun, country and southern
rock, music that Nico grew up with in his childhood, and
an allusion to his first band Vent du Sud. Dedicated to
his father, he explains to us; This is the reason
he is where he is now, due to his his constant inspiration
and unwavering support for Nico's music and career. |
As the boss of his own band and
his own manager, Nico feels fully responsible for the course
of his career. That's a very exciting, stimulating feeling for
him and although he loves playing music what he truly loves is
being on stage to do so. "The connection with the audience,
that particular moment we can share together is almost like a
spiritual experience, for me. I love the stage, that's for sure.
Commenting about the Internet
and current state of the biz, Nico adds, "No music for free
anymore. Just to get back that feeling of going to BUY a record.
The thrill you'd get from that. To go back home with it. To put
it on the turntable or even the cd player. I feel the real value,
the real appreciation for the music that's recorded is
gone. However the net offers a positive, faster, cheaper
form of communication. With the negative side being the
notion of “free” that
implies internet when it comes to music, videos, films, pictures,
software … If
you steal your bread and don't buy it, your baker can't make
bread no more. It's simplistic but it's true.
Boosted by the experiences of the past 10 years
as much as by the great memories of moments spent with him everywhere
he plays, they still regularly hit the road to meet the fans
and to share the music and pleasure to perform.
To learn more about Nico pleae visit on
the web at Nico
Wayne Toussaint
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