Joe Nichols (folk/world)
The "original" Joe Nichols or "Roadie Joe" (born 1952), a native of Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, has performed "psychedelic progressive folk" music since the 1960s. His music is noted for its BLEND of American styles with exotic elements of world music. Although various live performances and informal jam sessions have been recorded throughout his career, Nichols released his first proper full-length album, Jongleur, in 2003. The debut featured a combination of rock, blues, and folk vocal songs, and several Hindustani-influenced instrumental guitar tracks. The follow-up, Snake Eyes, was released in 2005. This album featured several Eastern-influenced jazz-raga improvisations, and a single vocal song simply titled "Last Song". Nichols has been compared to artists such as the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, Ravi Shankar, Hasil Adkins, and Ali Farka Toure. Nichols is scheduled to make a cameo appearance as himself in the upcoming independent film "Some Dark Hollow". In the film, Nichols will be performing an instrumental guitar song from Snake Eyes.
Nichols is occasionally confused with a young country artist of the same name. Part of the confusion has resulted from the fact that Joe Nichols of Berkeley Springs recorded music first, but the young country artist was the first to release a commercial recording. Joe Nichols of Berkeley Springs has actually held a trademark on his name since 1952 when he was born. In 2007, a legal precident to this effect was set when a court ruled in favor mayoral candidate Sam Adams. Adams had been sued by the Sam Adams Brewing Company for trademark infringement. The court ruled that mayoral candidate had retained his trademark since birth, while the Sam Adams Brewing Company had only been incorporated since 1984. In the case of Joe Nichols, the elder Joe Nichols should be entitled to use his rightful name.