The first time I talked to Ricky Nye, he had just wrapped up some sessions with the Volcanic Blues band at Caveau de la Huchette in Paris and was getting ready to do some solo performances at the Barcelona Blues Festival with other piano greats, Bob Seeley and Axel Zwingenberger.
Unfortunately, the introduction was in context to some technical issues that he was having with GroupMail on his Mac using Parallels. After our first conversation, I visited his website and listened to some of his music. Even though it wasn’t under the best of circumstances, I’m really glad to have met him.
Ricky Nye’s Biography
RICKY NYE (Rick Neiheisel) was born in Cincinnati in 1956, and was bitten by the music bug at the age of five. Upon his return to the area in 1979, his musical journeys on piano, organ & accordion have taken him through jazz, funk, rock & roll (years 1979-1985 with legendary cult faves The Raisins), country, zydeco, New Orleans styles, boogie woogie & blues (three years with the late Big Ed Thompson)- knowledge which has landed him on countless recording sessions and as accompanist to renown blues artists such as James Harman, Junior Watson, Jason Ricci, Francine Reed and Darrell Nulisch. Besides leading two groups, RICKY NYE & THE RED HOTS (winners of BEST BLUES BAND in the Cincinnati Enquirer’s 2001 CAMMY awards) and his trio/quartet RICKY NYE INC., Ricky performs in solo settings (winning BEST SOLO ACT in the 2001 & 2002 CAMMY Awards, along with BEST BLUES/R&B INSTRUMENTALIST in 2002 CAMMYS, and BEST BLUES/R&B ARTIST in the 2000, 2001, 2004 & 2005 CEA Awards held by CityBeat Magazine), and in duet settings with either upright bassist Steve Perakis or drummer Brian Aylor (Ricky’s partners in RICKY NYE INC.), and with vocalists extraordinaire Bekah Williams & Dottie Warner. Since 1996, Ricky has been a regular performer on the Arches Boogie Stage at the Queen City Blues Fest, which put him in association and friendships with some of the finest blues and boogie pianists from around the world, such as Julien Brunetaud (Paris); Fabrice Eulry (Paris); Renaud Patigny (Brussels); Julian Phillips (U.K.); Martijn Schok (Netherlands); Silvan Zingg (Switzerland); Michael Pewny (Vienna); and Jean-Paul Amouroux (Paris), who have all hosted Ricky for their international boogie woogie festivals and touring dates. Since 1999, Ricky has been the producer of the annual BLUES & BOOGIE PIANO SUMMIT, from which CDs have been released from the years 2000-2007. Newest CD release, entitled VILLE DU BOIS, features the finest blues musicians in Paris: Thibaut Chopin (upright bass & harmonica); Anthony Stelmaszack (guitar) & Simon “Shuffle” Boyer (drums). CDs available @ www.cdbaby.com/group/rickynye
If you ever have the chance to see Ricky Nye play, don’t miss it.
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