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

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

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 themselv ...

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 Defi ...

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter 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 ...

and singer of the band

The Young Werewolves The Young Werewolves are a Philadelphia rock band formed in 2002. The trio have been labeled rockabilly, psychobilly, punk, garage, and surf by publications such as Allmusic, Fangoria, The Village Voice, Maximum RocknRoll, assorted Horror, Ta ...

Early life

Falcon was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

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

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

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'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

The Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. The ''Dail ...

and retrospectively in Print Magazine,

Philadelphia Weekly ''Philadelphia Weekly'' (''PW'') is a website based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a newspaper in 1971 as ''The Welcomat'', a sister publication to the ''South Philadelphia Press''. In 1995, the paper became ''Philadelphia Weekl ...

and

Philadelphia City Paper ''Philadelphia City Paper'' was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The independently owned paper was free and published every Thursday in print and daily online at citypaper.net. Staff reporters focused on labor issues, ...

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 state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

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 Stephen Powers (1840–1904) was an American journalist, ethnographer, and historian of Native American tribes in California. He traveled extensively to study and learn about their cultures, and wrote notable accounts of them. His articles we ...

. 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 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 Billy Bauer (November 14, 1915 – June 17, 2005) was an American jazz guitarist. Life William Henry Bauer was born in New York City. He played ukulele and banjo as a child before switching to guitar. He played with the Jerry Wald band and r ...

. While sharpening his skills, he managed a

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

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

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and ...

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

and

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

Young Werewolves

Falcon formed the band in 2002 after meeting drummer ''Jonny Wolf'' and bonding over a mutual respect for the

Flat Duo Jets Flat Duo Jets was an American rock band from Carrboro, North Carolina, and Athens, Georgia. This rockabilly, punk blues, and psychobilly band was a major influence on several bands of the 1990s and 2000s, including The White Stripes. The band's ...

. 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 music ...

swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing rid ...

, and traditional

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

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 area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

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