Nicholas grew up in
Rhode Island,
United States, where he formed his first band, The Vikings. The band performed
cover versions of popular
rhythm and blues hits of the time, along with songs by the
Rolling Stones. In the mid-1960s, he formed the Black Cat Blues Band with
Duke Robillard,
Fran Christina and
Steve Nardella. Around 1970, he formed the Boogie Brothers with Nardella. After attending the
Ann Arbor Blues Festival in 1970, the band eventually moved on to
San Francisco,
California in 1972 per-request of
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen. By 1974, Nicholas had moved to
Chicago,
Illinois and began playing with
Big Walter Horton. During his time in Chicago, he would record music with Horton,
Boogie Woogie Red and
Robert Lockwood, Jr. In 1974, he created his own single, "Too Many Bad Habits" for
Blind Pig Records. Moving to
Providence, Rhode Island, he formed his own band, Johnny Nicholas and the Rhythm Rockers, which included Kaz Kazanoff on
saxophone, Terry Bingham on
drums, Sarah Brown on
bass guitar and
Ronnie Earl on
electric guitar. Nicholas began his stint with
Asleep at the Wheel in 1978, when the band asked him to perform with them. During his off time, he would travel to various cities for solo shows, but would often visit
Louisiana to play with Link Davis and
Cajun accordion player
Nathan Abshire. By 1980, however, Nicholas decided to take time off from music in order to raise a family. Since 1981, Nicholas and his wife Brenda have owned and managed a roadside
restaurant (formerly a
gas station) called the Hill Top Café near
Fredericksburg, Texas. After fathering three boys, Nicholas returned to recording blues music with
Johnny Shines and
Snooky Pryor on the album
Back to the Country in 1991. Since then, he has released one
studio album and three
live albums on Topcat Records while also returning to regular live shows. ==Discography==