Artist Biography
b. James Hayden Nicholas, 1957, Texas, USA. Taking an early interest in music, Nicholas taught himself to play guitar and by his teenage years was also writing songs. He played in Tim McCrary’s Revolver in the early 80s, then moved to California for a spell. Back in Texas in the late 80s, he met and teamed up with Clint Black to write songs that might help promote Black’s career. They were immediately successful, with ‘Straight From The Factory’ and especially ‘Nobody’s Home’, and from that point onwards maintained their relationship with Nicholas becoming leader of Black’s supporting band. Their songwriting partnership extended over the years to incorporate a majority of the songs on Black’s albums. Several of the songs attained high chart ratings as singles, and on three occasions he had three songs reach number 1 within a 12-month period, thus qualifying for three Triple Play Awards. Among the Nicholas-Black successes are ‘A Better Man’ and ‘Killin’ Time’, which were respectively the Country Music Association’s Song Of The Year in 1989 and 1990, and ‘The Hard Way’, which was used in the 2003 stage musical, Urban Cowboy, which was Tony Award nominated for Best Original Score.
Although Nicholas’ work with Black fills much of his time, he has also worked with others, including recording with Asleep At The Wheel, acting as producer for albums by Cooder Graw, and writing a successful novel, Hands Treasure.
Hometown
Texas, United States
Genre
Country