James Hayden Nicholas is a country guitarist and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

. Nicholas grew up in the Houston, Texas area. In the early 1980s, he was a member of the band Revolver, headlined by Tim McCrary, which played extensively in

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. After a stint living in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, he returned to Texas, where, in 1987, he met then-struggling country singer

Clint Black Clint Patrick Black (born February 4, 1962) is an American country music singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Signed to RCA Nashville in 1989, Black's debut album '' Killin' Time'' produced four straight number one singles on the ...

. 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 Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

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, 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 ''Urban Cowboy'' is a 1980 American romantic Western film directed by James Bridges. The plot concerns the love-hate relationship between Buford Uan "Bud" Davis (John Travolta) and Sissy (Debra Winger). The film's success was credited for spur ...

'', which was nominated for a 2003

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

for Best Original Score. Nicholas has expanded his efforts, co-producing the debut album of Texas band Cooder Graw and serving as sole producer on the band's second attempt. He also played guitar on the Asleep at the Wheel 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'', 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)