Nicholas Robert Schnebelen (born September 30, 1978) is an American

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

musician from

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, United States. He has toured with Buddahead and was an original member of

Trampled Under Foot "Trampled Under Foot" is a song by English rock group Led Zeppelin. A funk-influenced piece with John Paul Jones on clavinet, it was included on their 1975 album '' Physical Graffiti''. The song was released as a single in several countries an ...

. Schnebelen became a solo artist in 2015, and released two live albums the following year. The ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was foun ...

'' stated that Schnebelen offers " hos of the blues like Freddie King, Buddy Guy... Nick Schnebelen’s world-class guitar playing leads the way." His latest album, ''Crazy All By Myself'' (2019), entered the US ''Billboard'' Blues Albums Chart at number 13.

Background

was an American soul blues and blues rock

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran *Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

. The original trio consisted of the siblings Danielle Schnebelen (lead vocals and bass), Nick Schnebelen (guitars and vocals) and Kris Schnebelen (drums and vocals). The band was the winner of the

International Blues Challenge The International Blues Challenge (IBC) is a music competition run by the Blues Foundation. Notable blues artists that have competed in the IBC over the years also includes Fiona Boyes, Eden Brent, Michael Burks, Tommy Castro, Sean Costello, Alb ...

in 2008. Their 2013 album, ''Badlands'', reached number one on the US ''Billboard'' Blues Albums Chart. At the 2014

Blues Music Award The Blues Music Awards, formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards were originally named in honor of W. C. Handy, " ...

s, ''Badlands'' won the 'Contemporary Blues Album of the Year' category. The band was also nominated in the 'Band of the Year' category. Trampled Under Foot split up in 2015.

Career

Schnebelen was born in

, United States. His father and mother were both professional musicians. Nick's father, Bob, played in a blues band, whilst his maternal grandmother was a jazz singer, who got to sing with

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

. Prior to that, the family's musical heritage dates back to violin players living in Eastern Europe. Schnebelen was educated at Kansas City's

Paseo Academy Paseo Academy, also referred to as Paseo Academy of Fine and Performing Arts and sometimes Paseo High School, is a magnet performing arts high school located at 4747 Flora Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri. It is part of the Kansas City Public Scho ...

, where he studied both

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

. In 1997, Schbnebelen moved to

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 ...

and formed a

jam band A jam band is a musical group whose concerts (and live albums) are characterized by lengthy improvisational "jams." These include extended musical improvisation over rhythmic grooves and chord patterns, and long sets of music which often cr ...

, K-Floor, who played predominately blues music. He later toured for a while with Buddahead. In 2000, he joined his brother and sister as founder members of Trampled Under Foot. When they won the 2008 International Blues Challenge, Nick Schnebelen was granted the Albert King Award as the competition's best guitarist. After the band's demise Schnebelen became a solo artist, and released the first of two live albums in 2016, ''Live in Kansas City''. The second of them, ''Live At Knuckleheads, Vol. 1'', was issued in June 2016, and credited to the Nick Schnebelen Band. On the recording and subsequent promotional tour, Schnebelen shared lead vocal duties with Heather Newman. He continued to play live and attempted to create an amalgam of various blues styles. Schenebelen stated "The old school, new school, even Delta. I bring a lot of different styles together." This all paved the way for the recording and release of Schenebelen's debut solo studio album, ''Crazy All by Myself''. The recording was produced by

Tony Braunagel Tony Braunagel is an American drummer, producer, and songwriter from Houston, Texas, United States, who is based in Los Angeles, California. Braunagel has played on many film scores and television shows as well as numerous albums as a musician, ...

, and guest artists on the collection included the harmonica player

Jason Ricci Jason Ricci (born February 3, 1974) is an American harmonica player and singer. In addition to his solo albums, Ricci has appeared as a guest harmonica player on albums with Johnny Winter, Terence Blanchard, Nick Curran, Ana Popovic, Walter Tr ...

, guitarist

Davy Knowles Davy Knowles (born 30 April 1987) is a Manx blues guitarist and singer. Knowles currently tours as a solo artist, but is formerly of the blues-rock band Back Door Slam, as well as working under the name Davy Knowles and Back Door Slam for a ...

, and pianist

Mike Finnigan Michael Kelly Finnigan (April 26, 1945 – August 11, 2021) was an American keyboard player and vocalist, his speciality being the B3 Hammond organ. Working primarily as a freelance studio musician and touring player, he played with a wide va ...

. The songwriting was done by Schenebelen with Gary Nicholson, Jeff Paris and Dave Duncan. ''Crazy All by Myself'' was released on March 1, 2019, via Vizztone and included 13 tracks. Musical backing on the recording was provided by

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

's Phantom Blues Band. Schnebelens touring schedule for 2018 encompassed North America and Europe, performing at music festivals, and the annual Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. He also opened dates for

George Thorogood George Lawrence Thorogood (born February 24, 1950) is an American musician, singer and songwriter from Wilmington, Delaware. His "high-energy boogie-blues" sound became a staple of 1980s rock radio, with hits like his original songs "Bad to the ...

. Schnebelen and his band again toured the US in 2019, with Mike Finnigan joining for

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

dates later in 2019. In March 2023, upon the release of his latest album, ''What Key Is Trouble In?'', the music magazine ''Making A Scene'' interviewed Schnebelen and featured him on its cover.

Current band members

*Nick Schnebelen *Cliff Moore - bass guitar *Adam Hagerman - drums

Discography

References

External links

*
Discography at Discogs.comVideo of live performanceVizztone profile of Schnebelen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schnebelen, Nick 1978 births Living people American blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists Blues rock musicians Musicians from Kansas City, Missouri Singers from Missouri Guitarists from Missouri Songwriters from Missouri American male songwriters Trampled Under Foot (band) members