As a teenager,
Jeb Loy Nichols made his way from Austin, TX, to New York, NY. In the Big Apple, punk rock took root, and continued to be an influence even after
Nichols had moved to London. In the U.K., the sounds of dub and lovers rock mixed with his already colorful palette, and
Nichols collaborated with fellow genre chameleons like
Neneh Cherry and
the Slits'
Ari Up. In 1990,
Nichols formed
the Fellow Travellers with vocalist
Loraine Morley, issuing
No Easy Way on the Ohio indie Okra. A spicy blend of country, folk, and reggae, the album was the first real evidence of
Nichols' burgeoning talent as an artist who was as at home on the range as he was on the streets of the city. In 1992,
the Fellow Travellers released their sophomore effort, Just a Visitor, and Things and Time a year later. Both appeared on Okra, and channeled
Cash as frequently as they did Gershwin or
Horace Andy.
In 1997,
Nichols' solo debut appeared on Capitol. An ambitious, richly textured album,
Lover's Knot featured
Nichols' nasally drawl and plucking banjo over soul, blues, and reggae influences. Needless to say, it was a little ahead of its time. Evidently, Capitol though so, too:
Nichols was promptly dropped, and the record was shelved after only a brief release in North America.
Nichols resurfaced in 2001 with
Just What Time It Is, issued in America through Ryko and Rough Trade in the United Kingdom. Recorded in Jamaica with engineer
Stephen Stanley (
Buju Banton,
Burning Spear), the record again mixed country & western with soul and reggae. But
Nichols' sound now also featured a hint of programming, giving it a hyper-real vibe, like a green-lit night-vision image of a front porch. The album was a critical success, and
Nichols followed it with
Easy Now in 2002.
Nichols' fourth offering,
Now Then, boasted some of the most carefully crafted, honest, and emotional material of his career, a feat he dutifully replicated with 2007's
Days Are Mighty and 2008's
Parish Bar and 2009's
Strange Faith and Practice. Readied for a 2010 release was
Only Time Will Tell, which involved a collaboration and co-billing with
Brinsley Schwarz guitarist
Ian Gomm. Nichols kept quite busy in the next few years, penning the liner notes for Bear Family's 2011 collection of Jim Ford demos called Demolition Expert, and he had an exhibit of his artwork featured at Austin's Yard Dog gallery and, finally, a new album called The Jeb Loy Nichols Special appeared in the summer of '12.
–
Johnny Loftus, Rovi