Guitarist, songwriter and
vocalist Nick Curran passed away on Saturday, October 6th, at his home in
Austin, Texas, it was announced by his management. He was 35 years
old.
Curran was a powerhouse performer
who drew inspiration from the blues and rockabilly artists of the 50's and
became renowned for his uncanny knack of authentically recreating the feel,
vibe, and swagger of classic R&B and rock.
He cut his teeth playing with
rockabilly legends Ronnie Dawson and Kim Lenz. A native of Maine, Curran moved
to Dallas and immersed himself in the Texas roots music scene, eventually
releasing two albums on the Texas Jamboree label, Fixin' Your Head and
Nitelife Boogie. As he would do on all his albums, Curran used vintage
recording equipment and a one take technique to achieve not only the sound but
also the feel of vintage 45s.
His national debut, Doctor
Velvet on Blind Pig, was released in 2003 to critical acclaim, with a
number of publications calling it the album of the year. It also attracted
international attention with rave reviews in the U.K. and Germany and a "Best
New International Blues Artist" award in France.
Meanwhile, Nick and his band, the
Nitelifes, were generating an ever-growing buzz with their head-turning
performances at festivals and clubs across the country, including a stunning
performance at the 2003 San Francisco Blues Festival. Calling him a "don't
miss performer," Blues Revue said, "Internet discussion boards are shot
through with postings and excited conversations by stunned people who just saw
Nick and his band for the first time."
A twenty-first century hybrid of
Little Richard and T-Bone Walker, Curran displayed a veteran's mastery of the
nuances of roots rock and blues idioms, yet did it in such a way that made the
familiar sound startlingly new. With his raw, powerful voice and stinging
guitar, he quickly established himself as one of the freshest, most exciting new
talents on the scene.
Doctor Velvet included
guest appearances by Curran admirer Jimmie Vaughan (who called him "just a total
ass-kicker"). The album went on to win the W.C. Handy Award, blues music's most
prestigious award, for "Best New Artist Debut." Nick Curran and the Nitelifes
released their second Blind Pig album, Player!, in 2004 but the band
broke up shortly afterward when Nick was asked to join Kim Wilson's latest
reincarnation of The Fabulous Thunderbirds, just in time to record the band's
Painted On release.
He toured with the T-Birds for
three years, and also worked on side projects such as Deguello, a blues/punk
combo he formed with another T-Bird alum, Ronnie James, and a punk/rock 'n' roll
band named The Flash Boys. In 2008 he performed four songs in a scene in the
HBO Series "True Blood."
His last album, Reform School
Girl, was released in 2010 on the Eclectro Groove label. That year he was
also diagnosed with oral cancer, and had been undergoing treatment until
succumbing over the weekend.
Blind Pig executive Edward
Chmelewski said, "We were all very saddened to hear the news of Nick's death.
He was an extremely talented musician and a very sweet guy. A truly gifted
artist, he captured a golden musical moment in time and made it his
own."
|
No comments:
Post a Comment