Nick Clemons

Last updated

Nick Clemons
Nick Clemons at Wonder Bar.jpg
Nick Clemons performing at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, NJ
Background information
Birth nameClarence Anicholas Clemons III
Also known asNick Clemons
Born (1968-11-25) November 25, 1968 (age 54)
Origin New Jersey
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • harmonica
Website Facebook Page

Clarence Anicholas Clemons III (born November 25, 1968) is an American musician and the eldest son of Jackie and Clarence Clemons, [1] a prominent member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. In 1993, Nick released his first EP titled 'Waiting for You'. [2] He has shared the stage with Bobby Bandiera, John Eddie, New Riders of the Purple Sage, Jimmy Vivino, and Clarence Clemons.

Contents

Biography

Born and raised in New Jersey, Clemons was affectionately known as "Nicky" to family and friends as a child and eventually began using the name Nick, a shortened version of the middle name he shares with his famous father [3] and grandfather.

Nick did not begin to develop his own musical talents until later in life. His father had always envisioned he would pursue a career in law. After opening for a Clarence Clemons New Year's Show with a short acoustic set, he began a career in music.

He soon moved to Ocean City, Maryland, and set to work developing his own musical chops by playing local gigs with another Jersey boy, guitar player Joe Boris of the jam band One-Eyed Jack. The two started a band with bass player Andre Cholomondeley, from the Frank Zappa tribute band Project Object and veteran New Jersey drummer Bob Ramos. Nick's early band toured local venues along the East Coast and in California. Nick worked for 5 years with Jersey cover band Bare Wires featuring Dave DeSantis on Drums, Markus Barth on Bass and Jim Keegan on guitars. They performed up and down the east coast opening for Nick's Dad Clarence Clemons. Performing as the All Zeros Band, Bare Wires recorded with Nick and the first tracks, Downstream, Solid, Captain Corey and Now Worries were on their first EP release featuring dad Clarence on Sax for No Worries and Captain Corey. The songs were recorded at Ocean Way Studios in New Jersey and mixed and mastered at Granite Alps Recording Studios in Wayne, NJ. Mixed and mastered by Markus Barth.

Nick's band, The Nick Clemons Band, has been touring bringing an original fusion of rock, jazz and funk to venues all across North America. "The most important thing to me" Clemons says, "is to get a warm feeling from a crowd, that juice or electricity that makes you want to give more."

Nick's other artistic interests include acting, and building a production company to develop and manage other musicians, as well as producing events for charity. Nick is the producer of the Annual Asbury Park Comedy Fest. Nick's primary passion is raising his son. When not making memories with his son or songwriting or performing, Nick enjoys playing golf.

Musical style

Nick has been influenced and coached by such notable songwriters and producers as Jordan De la Sierra and Narada Michael Walden.

Band

The Nick Clemons Band currently includes:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Springsteen</span> American singer and songwriter (born 1949)

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums during a career spanning six decades, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. He is an originator of heartland rock, a genre combining mainstream rock music with poetic and socially conscious lyrics that tell a narrative about working-class American life. Nicknamed "The Boss", he is known for his lyrics and energetic concerts, with performances that can last more than four hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clarence Clemons</span> American musician and actor (1942–2011)

Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr., also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death in 2011, he was the saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band.

"Thunder Road" is a 1975 song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen, that became the opening track on his breakthrough album Born to Run. One of the artist's most popular songs, while never released as a single, "Thunder Road" is ranked as one of Springsteen's greatest songs and one of the top rock songs in history. It is No. 111 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list, and also the 103rd best ranked song on critics' all-time lists according to Acclaimed Music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out</span> 1975 single by Bruce Springsteen

"Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" is the second song on Bruce Springsteen's breakthrough album Born to Run, released in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E Street Band</span> Bruce Springsteens backing band

The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing career, the band consisted of: guitarists Steven Van Zandt, Nils Lofgren, and Patti Scialfa, keyboardists Danny Federici and Roy Bittan, bassist Garry Tallent, drummer Max Weinberg, and saxophonist Clarence Clemons.

Ernest Carter is an American drummer. He has toured and recorded with, among others, Bruce Springsteen, David Sancious, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes and Paul Butterfield. During his time with Springsteen, he played the drums on the song "Born to Run". Able to play all forms of rock as well as rhythm and blues, soul and jazz, Carter was formally trained and blends a variety of styles into his drumming. His successor as the drummer with the E Street Band, Max Weinberg later said that Carter devised a jazz fusion part for "Born to Run" that he could never reproduce in concert, and eventually stopped attempting. Although best known as a drummer, Carter is also a guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist and in 2001 he released a solo album, Temple of Boom, singing and playing all of the instruments.

<i>Chimes of Freedom</i> (EP) 1988 EP by Bruce Springsteen

Chimes of Freedom is a live EP by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. It was released in 1988 to support the multi-artist Human Rights Now! Tour in benefit of Amnesty International. This tour was announced near the end of a first-set radio broadcast during Springsteen's July 3, 1988, show in Stockholm, Sweden, after which Bob Dylan's "Chimes of Freedom" was performed. The performance of "Chimes of Freedom" on this EP peaked at number 16 on the Mainstream Rock charts in mid-late 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes</span> American musical group

Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes are an American musical group from the Jersey Shore led by Southside Johnny. They have been recording albums since 1976 and are closely associated with Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. They have recorded or performed several Springsteen songs, including "The Fever" and "Fade Away". Springsteen has also performed with the band on numerous occasions and in 1991 guested on their Better Days album. During the band's formative years Steven Van Zandt acted as the band's co-leader, guitarist, songwriter, arranger and producer while other E Streeters including Clarence Clemons, Max Weinberg, Garry Tallent, Ernest Carter, Patti Scialfa and Soozie Tyrell have all performed, toured or recorded with the Jukes. The band's horn section – the Miami Horns – has also toured and recorded with Springsteen. More than one hundred musicians can claim to have been members of the Asbury Jukes, including Jon Bon Jovi who toured with the band as a special guest during 1990. Bon Jovi has also cited the band as an influence and Jukes' Bobby Bandiera and Jeff Kazee have also toured with Bon Jovi. Other notable band members include Mark Pender and Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg who have played regularly with the Max Weinberg 7 on both Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.

"Jungleland" is the closing song on Bruce Springsteen's 1975 album Born to Run. It contains one of E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons' most recognizable solos. It also features short-time E Streeter Suki Lahav, who performs the delicate 23-note violin introduction to the song, accompanied by Roy Bittan on piano in the opening.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Man's West</span>

Big Man's West was a nightclub located at 129 Monmouth Street in Red Bank, New Jersey. It was owned by Clarence "Big Man" Clemons of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and managed by Terry Magovern and George McMorrow. Although the club was short-lived, together with The Fast Lane and The Stone Pony, it played a key role in the revival the Jersey Shore music scene during the early 1980s.

<i>Blood Brothers</i> (EP) 1996 EP by Bruce Springsteen

Blood Brothers is a five-song EP by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, released in 1996. The EP was originally released along with a film, also titled Blood Brothers, which documented the 1995 temporary reuniting of Springsteen with the band to record extra tracks for his Greatest Hits release of that year. Long out of print, the EP was re-released in January 2014 to ITunes, Spotify and other download sites.

Delores Holmes was an American soul singer. She was best known for her years as backup singer for the Bruce Springsteen Band during 1969 to 1972, the last grouping before the E Street Band. The Bruce Springsteen Band included David Sancious, Vini Lopez, Garry Tallent and Steven Van Zandt, among others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio Nowhere</span> 2007 single by Bruce Springsteen

"Radio Nowhere" is the first single released from Bruce Springsteen's 2007 studio album Magic. It was awarded Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance and Best Rock Song at the Grammy Awards of 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fade Away (Bruce Springsteen song)</span> 1981 single by Bruce Springsteen

"Fade Away" is a 1980 song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen, accompanied by the E Street Band. It is contained on his album The River, and the second single released from it in the United States, reaching the top twenty in both the United States and Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spirit in the Night</span> 1973 single by Bruce Springsteen

"Spirit in the Night" is a song written and originally recorded by American singer/songwriter Bruce Springsteen for his debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973). It was also the second single released from the album. A cover version performed by Manfred Mann's Earth Band, was released on the album Nightingales and Bombers and as a Top 40 single.

"My City of Ruins" is a popular 2000s song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen and included on his 2002 album The Rising. It was released as a single in New Zealand in 2011, charting at #17.

JT Bowen is an American R&B singer in the style of Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett, and is best known as the lead singer of the band Clarence Clemons & The Red Bank Rockers.

"Land of Hope and Dreams" is a 1999 song written by Bruce Springsteen and performed by Springsteen and the E Street Band. After being performed on tour and released on multiple live albums, a studio recording was released for the first time on Wrecking Ball in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jake Clemons</span> American musician

Jake Clemons is an American musician, singer and songwriter. Since 2012, he has been the saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, after the death of the band's original saxophonist, his uncle Clarence Clemons. Clemons has performed various instruments including percussion and backing vocals on Springsteen's Wrecking Ball Tour, High Hopes Tour and The River Tour. Clemons attended the Virginia Governor's School for the Arts to study jazz performance. Clemons also has performed with Eddie Vedder, Roger Waters, The Swell Season and The Roots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Upstage Club</span>

The Upstage Club was a legendary coffee shop, music venue, and afterhours club in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The club is featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Influential musicians such as Bruce Springsteen, Bill Chinnock, Southside Johnny, David Sancious, Little Steven Van Zandt, Garry Tallent, Vini Lopez, and Danny Federici first honed their live performance skills at the club. It was where the Asbury Jukes, Steel Mill and the Blackberry Blues Band were formed.

References

  1. Greene, Andy. "Bruce Springsteen's Surprise Tribute to Clarence Clemons" . Retrieved August 23, 2011.
  2. n/a. "AOL Music: Waiting for You, Nick Clemons" . Retrieved August 23, 2011.
  3. Sweeting, Adam (June 19, 2011). "Clarence Clemons Obituary". The Guardian. London. Retrieved August 23, 2011.