It’s no secret I unabashedly appreciate good, blues rock shredding guitarists. After spending many East Coast summers seatbelt-less sitting in the back of the family car, with my head by the blasting speakers, listening to my dad’s skillfully crafted classic rock mixtapes, I naturally found my way back as an adult to these genres and gladly linger there. Any axe-wielding talented individual taking up residence within those intersections will automatically capture my attention and get a “Play” from me without hesitation. Fortuitously coming across one such rowdy rocker Jared James Nichols in my inbox, I hit the jackpot.

Scoring an invite to a special night at the LA Gibson Showroom recently, I witnessed the premiere of his Gibson TV documentary “The Long Road” and caught an intimate, blazing live performance of his new album ‘Louder Than Fate’. Viewing clips of his performances online prior, I thought I knew what to expect but feeling his intense energy in the room, coming into the audience to do a blistering solo, sealed the fandom deal and confirmed his album as one of my favs of the year.

Before the show, I luckily got a chance to connect with him and asked about WTF moments with Tony Iommi and Ozzy, recording in the Van Halen Room at Sunset Sound and Dave Grohl’s studio, playing with ZZ Top, The Who, Steve Vai and Joe Bonnamassa. Listen to the soundclips below and get tix to see him live and buy his album HERE!