Nick Falcon (born July 20, 1968) is an American

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

best known as

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

and singer of the band The Young Werewolves.

Early life

Falcon was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. An early interest in design and comics led to a career in the then nascent local

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

scene. He grew up in the Overbrook section of the city and graduated from Robert E. Lamberton High School in 1986. As a teenager in the 1980s, Falcon was featured in

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

, The Philadelphia Daily News and retrospectively in Print Magazine, Philadelphia Weekly and Philadelphia City Paper for his work as a noted graffiti writer. In 1984 his artwork was shown in an exclusive underground exhibit held at the defunct Kennel Club. He influenced many young writers, most notably by pioneering modern graffiti on freight trains. A synopsis of Falcon’s graffiti experience has been documented in the book ''The Art of Getting Over.'' Upon graduating High School, Falcon attended

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

and studied communications and journalism which enabled him to launch his writing career under the pseudonym, ''Buford Youthward,'' for ''On the Go'' magazine published by Stephen Powers. He maintained a monthly column from 1999 until 2014 under the pseudonym for the ''Art Crimes'' website and was also interviewed in AdbustersKatie Haegele, ''Cat Burglars & Hustlers'', Adbusters, Nov./Dec. 2001 under the assumed name. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1991 and served as a

paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

for four years.

Music career

From an early age, Falcon had an interest in playing the guitar and after developing an affinity for rock and blues, moved on to swing and bebop, ultimately studying under Billy Bauer. While sharpening his skills, he managed a

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

and worked as a retail promoter for ''Red Ant Records'' supporting diverse acts such as

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band formed in Rockford, Illinois in 1970 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. Their work bridged elements of '60s pop rock, guitar pop, '70s har ...

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

and

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain (instrumental), Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" ...

Young Werewolves

Falcon formed the band in 2002 after meeting drummer ''Jonny Wolf'' and bonding over a mutual respect for the Flat Duo Jets. Tryouts were held to fill in the rest of the group, which included lead singers, alto sax players and bassists, and several auditions later the duo met bassist ''Shewolf Dana Kain,'' completing the line up. Falcon’s guitar style incorporates

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

, swing, and traditional rock while maintaining a clean sound with very limited use of effects, usually no more than reverb and vibrato. His main guitar is a 1988

Guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

X-170 custom fit with a Bigsby and he uses a 1975 Fender Twin amplifier.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falcon, Nick 1968 births American graffiti artists American male singer-songwriters American rock guitarists American male guitarists American rock singers American rock songwriters American people of Italian descent Living people Temple University alumni Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania Guitarists from Philadelphia 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians