Jared Michael Nickerson

Jared Michael Nickerson is a Grammy-nominated Bold Soul, Rock & Roll Brother from Ohio.  He experienced his first taste of live performance at local high school talent shows, one of the”labs” along with the church and basement dens of the legendary Dayton funk scene which spawned the Ohio Players, Slave, Roger Troutman & Zapp, Sun, Dayton, Steve Arrington’s Hall of Fame, Faze-O and members of Heatwave.  He continued his musical development at the University of Notre Dame under the direction of Father Wiskerchen, (noted for his development of three-fourths of the “Chicago”horn section).  After graduating with a B.A. in Business Management, Jared moved to Boston, studied for two years at the New England Conservatory of Music before embarking on his professional music career with a local seven-piece funk band, Hypertension.

After six years in Boston he returned to Dayton, Ohio and a year later joined the Cleveland Ohio band The Human Switchboard.  After three years of touring the Midwest & East Coast still based in Ohio, he moved with the band to New York City and back-flipped into the local music scene  of CBGBs, Danceteria, The Peppermint Lounge, Maxwells ( Hoboken N.J.) and The World.  After HS dissolved Jared started his own band JJ Jumpers; joined the Black Rock Coalition becoming the B.R.C.’s first Director of Operations.  His first booking was the B.R.C.’s first, two-day, mini-fest at CBGBs entitled “Stalking Heads” on February 11th and 12th,1987.  When he departed a few years later the new Director of Operations and BRC East & West Coast Booking Committees  had access to rock & roll venues all across the country.

Jared has “laid the bottom” for folks such as Nona Hendryx, Wadada Leo Smith, Human Switchboard, JJ Jumpers, Vernon Reid,  Marshall Crenshaw, Melvin Van Peebles, Freedy Johnston, Catie Curtis, Ivan Julian, John Paul Bourelly, Katell Keineg, Bernie Worrell, The The, Gary Lucas’s Gods and Monsters, Chocolate Genius, Darlene Love, Jeff Buckley, The Yohimbe Brothers with DJ Logic & Vernon Reid, Tammy Faye Starlite and the Angels of Mercy, Pheeroan akLaff, Divine Pocket Bouncers, Cynthia Sley, Dayton Flic, The Raybeats and the Band of Gypsy’s Revisited Band.  Jared co-wrote a tune, recorded and toured with Charlie Musselwhite. “Sanctuary”, on Peter Gabriel’s Real World label, found itself on numerous critic top ten lists and received a Grammy nomination.

A suggestion from a mutual friend, led to a call from Greg Tate landing Jared among a number of “Badasses” which included Vijay Iyer and Ronny “Wirepuller” Drayton for a jam session that morphed into Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber.  Burnt Sugar Index LLC soon followed with Jared handling all BSAC’s business affairs such as arranging an eight-week residency with BRIC studios (The organization that presents Celebrate Brooklyn) to workshop and preview Melvin Van Peebles theatrical version of “Sweet Sweetback’s Badasssss Song”.  The workshop culminated with three sold-out BRIC performances before BSAC departed for Paris to perform two sold-out performances at the Sons D’Hiver Festival in 2010.   Jared, overseeing “bookings” throughout the United States, Canada, France, England, Portugal, Spain, Finland, the Netherlands and Italy, just celebrated his twentieth year as BSAC’s CEO last year.

He’s even “dipped his toe” in tour managing having worked with Concord Records Alt-Folk artist Valerie June including the set-up of her August 21st, 2013 debut television appearance on David Letterman.

His television appearances include Late Night With David Letterman, The Jools Holland Show, MTV, VH1, The Tonight Show with Conan O Brien, The John Stewart Show and as bassist with The Kennedy Center Honors BB King Tribute Band; jamming with Bonnie Raitt, Dr. John, Etta James, Joe Williams and Steve Cropper to name a few.

You’ll find him in Nelson George’s “Finding The Funk” documentary speaking about growing up while playing music in Dayton Ohio in the late Sixties.

Jared has toured extensively performing at venues such as the Toronto Skydome, Red Rocks, the L.A. Forum, the Oakland Coliseum, England’s Brixton Academy, Brighton Dome & Reading Festivals, The Beacon Theater, Lincoln Center and Madison Square Garden.

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