Born in 1948, Nicholas grew up in Rhode Island, where an older brother hipped him to African-American blues and rhythm and blues. His first band (The Vikings, 1963-4) covered the r&b hits of the day while adding a smattering of Rolling Stones but shunning the Beatles and the other Merseybeat groups that were starting to dominate American pop. "At least the Stones were dirty," Nicholas recalls, "but I already had all the records they were stealing from. I’d go down to Robert’s Record Store on Canal Street in New London, Connecticut, where all the sailors hung out, and just look for records by the guys with funny names: Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Muddy Waters." He was inspired to play acoustic guitar after discovering the revered 1961 Robert Johnson reissue King of the Delta Blues Singers.

In 1966, he went to New York City for the evening to see a Howlin’ Wolf show and wound up hanging out with Wolf’s band for the next two weeks. Returning to Rhode Island fired up by the experience, he formed the Black Cat Blues Band with, among others, Duke Robillard (later of Roomful of Blues), Fran Christina (who went on to Roomful and then the Fabulous Thunderbirds) and Steve Nardella. By 1970, he and Nardella were working together as the Boogie Brothers. After attending the Ann Arbor Blues Festival that year, they made the Michigan college town their home until 1972, when they accepted an invitation to the San Francisco Bay Area from Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen.

But after six months there, Johnny relocated to the blues center of Chicago, where he played with Big Walter Horton for a couple years; in addition to recording with Walter, Boogie Woogie Red and Robert Jr. Lockwood, he cut his own Too Many Bad Habits for Blind Pig Records in 1974. Back east in Providence, he performed with Kaz Kazanoff on sax, Terry Bingham on drums, Sarah Brown on bass and Ronnie Earle on guitar; that group was especially popular in Europe, where a bootleg CD of their demos has been selling steadily since the early-Nineties. In 1978, Nicholas moved to Austin to join his old Bay Area friends Asleep at the Wheel; when the western swing revivalists weren’t working, he’d be over in Louisiana playing with Cajun great Nathan Abshire. After leaving the Wheel, he fronted Johnny Nicholas and the Ethnic Lovers.

Johnny Nicholas has been playing the blues from both coasts, as well as points in between. Since the early 60s .   He has enjoyed apprenticeships with some of the music’s most revered names, and  along the way found time to raise a family and build up Hill Top Café, a classic Texas roadhouse, located in the Texas Hill Country.

This move occurred after a three year stint with Texas' legendary western swing band, Asleep at the Wheel.  After Johnny left the Wheel his musical endeavors focused on performing at the Hill Top Cafe and other selective club dates and private engagements.

In 1981 Johnny and his new bride Brenda Schlaudt moved to the Hill Country near Fredericksburg. They bought an abandoned gas station on the Mason Highway just north of Fredericksburg and dubbed it the Hill Top Café, serving Greek, Cajun and Texas comfort foods; it has grown into one of the Hill Country’s finest and most popular restaurants. And they raised three sons: Rio (deceased), Willie and Alex.

He recorded Broke Again in 1986 on vinyl. In 1991, Johnny produced and played guitar on Back to the Country, with Johnny Shines (another of his mentors) and Snooky Pryor.  Johnny’s own Thrill on the Hill followed in 1994; since then, he has returned for gigs in Europe, where his popularity never tapered off.  

With the Summer 2000 release of Rockin’ My Blues to Sleep: Texas/Louisiana Blues and Dance Hall Favorites, he and his band the Texas All-Stars staked their claim to the music of the region he has called home for more than three decades.

2005 saw the release of Livin with the Blues on Top Cat Records followed, popular demand, with the re-release of Broke Again.   The following year Johnny and the Texas All Stars recorded the live album, Big Band Bash.   For ten years Johnny has produced an event which has become wildly successful called The Texas All-Stars Big Band Bash.  This event , in addition to being a great show, has raised over $50,000 for youth music and theatre workshops, scholarships, camps and mentoring.  "We want to pass on our love of traditional Texas and American music forms to the youth," Johnny observed.

He and the Texas All-Stars are available for festivals, club dates and private functions offering the same kind of  rootsy regional music that appears on their CDs . "This is regular, downhome music that has a good beat. It’s music for working people, but anybody can appreciate it," he concludes. "There’s that word ‘dance hall’ in the title, and really, that’s what it’s all about."

You can usually catch Johnny on the weekends at the Hill Top Cafe between 6 and 10 p.m. unless he is on the road or has another engagement.