A native of
Toledo, Ohio, Nix was introduced to music in childhood and began playing the guitar at eleven years old. He listened intently to jazz guitarists, including
Wes Montgomery,
Jimmy Raney,
Barney Kessel, and
Charlie Christian. In 1975 he graduated from the
Berklee College of Music. For the next twelve years, he played guitar in Prime Time, Ornette Coleman's electric band. Nix released the solo album
Low Barometer on
Tompkins Square Records in September 2006. His composition "Les is More" appears on
Art and Money, an album released by 1687, Inc. in 2006. In 2013, the Bern Nix Quartet, featuring Francois Grillot, Reggie Sylvester, and
Matt Lavelle, released
Negative Capability. He also worked with
Jayne Cortez,
Marc Ribot,
Elliott Sharp,
Jemeel Moondoc,
Ronald Shannon Jackson, and
John Zorn. ==Discography==