James Hayden Nicholas is a country

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 themselv ...

and songwriter. Nicholas grew up in the

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

area. In the early 1980s, he was a member of the band Revolver, headlined by Tim McCrary, which played extensively in Texas. After a stint living in California, he returned to Texas, where, in 1987, he met then-struggling country singer Clint Black. At the time, Nicholas was a guitarist and songwriter with his own home studio. The two joined forces to write and record demo versions of songs that Black could use to land a recording deal. Their first collaboration, " Nobody's Home," helped Black land his recording contract in 1988. The partnership between the two has continued strongly ever since. Nicholas serves as Black's bandleader, plays lead guitar, and cowrites with Black and others most of the songs that are on Black's albums. Often the two would retreat to a cabin in the Colorado mountains to hide out and write songs for the next album. Over sixty of their collaborations have appeared on Black's albums, with 15 of them hitting Number One on one of the music charts. Nicholas has been twice nominated for the CMA Song of the Year, in 1989 for " A Better Man" and in 1990 for " Killin' Time," both co-written with (and recorded by) Clint Black. He has also been nominated for several

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

, and has won over fifty songwriting awards, including three "Triple Play Awards," given to a songwriter who has three works reach Number One in twelve months. One of his collaborations with Black, ''The Hard Way'', was included in the musical '' Urban Cowboy'', which was nominated for a 2003 Tony Award for Best Original Score. Nicholas has expanded his efforts, co-producing the debut album of Texas band

Cooder Graw Cooder Graw is a self-described "loud country" ( country music / alternative country) band from Amarillo and Lubbock, Texas. It is also the title of their second album. The group formed in 1998. It is perhaps most well known for the song "Llano ...

and serving as sole producer on the band's second attempt. He also played guitar on the

Asleep at the Wheel Asleep at the Wheel is an American Western swing group that was formed in Paw Paw, West Virginia, and is based in Austin, Texas. The band has won nine Grammy Awards since their 1970 inception, released over twenty albums, and has charted more t ...

album ''Ride with Bob'', and wrote a novel, ''Hands Treasure'', which has been optioned by a motion picture company. Nicholas lost his mother before the release of Clint Black's 2005 album ''

Drinkin' Songs and Other Logic ''Drinkin' Songs and Other Logic'' is a 2005 (see 2005 in music) album by country singer Clint Black. He describes it as a "barroom, honky-tonk kind of album" with songs "about drinking, good for drinking, or written while drinking". The tracks " ...

'', prompting them to include the song "Back Home in Heaven" on the album. Nicholas's first book, Ezekiel's Choice was released on February 15, 2013, by West Bow Press.

Sources

Yahoo Music Biography of Clint Black
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas, Hayden Living people American country guitarists Record producers from Texas American country songwriters Country musicians from Texas Year of birth missing (living people)