Victims of Cool by Nick Vigarino

" - Blues To Does

"Nick Vigarino is where country blues meets the year 2000" - Long John Baldry

Nick has released three recordings of original material (two on Merrimack records), is found on 12 cd’s of other artists, 8 compilations, and one film soundtrack. He has performed in 11 countries, on 7 European tours, and has been nominated for 26 Blues Awards (winning 15, including Best Slide Guitar 2006, Best Acoustic Guitar, Performer of the Year, Best Songwriter, and Hall of Fame - Washington Blues Society).

The Story

“Many a bluesman paid backbreaking dues chopping cotton in the flat Delta fields of Mississippi and Arkansas. There was no cotton crop to tend to in the grimy rust belt town of Youngstown, Ohio in the 1960’s, but there was grinding, dirty work for some, as human grist in the mills of U.S. and Republic Steels. It was this dismal blue-collar legacy that Nick Vigarino was born to.

Vigarino had his way out of this existence before he even knew it. Nick fell into possession of a battered guitar, feebly equipped with one string. As fate would have it, he learned to play the guitar in the exact same way as a hundred seminal blues musicians had two generations before him, on a homemade one-string diddley bo. With a poet’s fierce commitment to birthing his own music, he continued to play on ever-improving instruments the angry and mournful melodies in his head, carrying his music into the bars and roadhouses of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

Impressed with the Northwest’s clean air and unspoiled mountain vistas, Nick drifted to Seattle, where he quickly won respect for his refreshingly original songs. Encouraged by the interest in his cutting-edge approach to the blues, he formed Meantown Blues. Now, thankfully, there is an audience for Nick’s clearheaded music as he finds himself rushing back and forth across the Northwest and beyond, serving up solo and ensemble music on the stages of bar rooms, concert halls, festivals, and regional television.” - Ray Varner - (Blues Historian, Ethno-musicologist, critic, and writer for Living Blues Magazine, Jefferson - Sweden, and Caledonia).

The Show

"We were promised that this guy smoked, but even that's putting things lightly...Nick took to dismantling what was left of all sensibility with the skill of a surgeon and the impact of a wrecking ball." - Washington Blues Society

"Wear comfortable shoes. Dancing is not exactly mandatory, but you might want to check for a pulse if this doesn't do it for you." - Anacortes American

"Nick opened the show with a blistering set that ignited the dance floor. He didn't give his band a rest until two hours and ten minutes into the set. And then only taking a 20 minute break before starting the next music set. Nick was playing possessed and went right up until closing time just a few minutes before 2 am." - Jet City Blues News

Instrumentation

Nick Vigarino - Vocals, Guitars, Dobro

Chris Leighton - Drums, Percussion

Keith Lowe: Bass

Don King: Bass

Jim Hruskocy: Bass

Jon Goforth: Sax

Jay Thomas: Trumpet

Kathi McDonald: Backing Vocals

Discography

*Temptation Road - Nick Vigarino - Meantown Music, Stanwood, Wa

*Victims of Cool - Nick Vigarino - Merrimack Records, Seattle, Wa

*The Ghost of Time - Nick Vigarino & Kathi McDonald - Merrimack Records, Seattle, Wa

*Nick Vigarino and Professor Washboard - HBS Records - Bremen, Germany

*Above & Beyond - Kathi McDonald - Merrimack Records, Seattle, Wa

*Save Your Breath - Kathi McDonald – Hypertension Records, Hamburg, Germany

*Back Porch Gossip - Seattle Women - Joe Records, Seattle, Wa

*Aint Gonna Cry No More - Kate Hart - Biograph Records, Oxford, Ms

*Live at Cole’s – Jerry Miller & Co – Owl Wood Records, Tacoma, Wa

*Leap of Faith – Mark Riley - P.T.M. Records, Seattle, Wa

*Do You Wanna Dance – Rick Allen – Scriven Records, Marysville, Wa

Television:

*Travelers - The Discovery Channel – Seattle, Wa. TDC-NY, NY (Presently in rotation)

*Nick Vigarino’s Meantown Blues Live – Bumbershoot – Seattle, Wa – live video webcast in conjunction with German film documentary In the City – artistdirect.com – Encino, Ca

*Live On Tour with the Kathi McDonald Trio – Channel 3- Brugg, Switzerland (1hr)

*Nick Vigarino’s Meantown Blues – PBS Channel 9 - Seattle, Wa. (Presently in rotation)

*Blues for Christmas – CBC – Vancouver, BC, Canada

*Seattle Blues Showcase – Channel 29 – Public Access – Seattle, Wa (1hr)

Compilations:

*The House That Music Built – CBS Promotions Group, Oakland, Ca

*Pie In The Sky – Transatlantic Management, Tucson, Az

*The Gene Pool – 3-23 Reckerds – Seattle, Wa

*Seattle Rhythm & Blues, Volume 1 – Axiom Records, Seattle, Wa

Original Compositions Covered:

*Elbow Room (Nick Vigarino) – Kate Hart – Aint Gonna Cry No More - Biograph Records, Oxford, Ms

*Corndog (Nick Vigarino) - Mark Riley – Lead Suit - Dog’s Ear Records – Renton, Wa

*Don’t Give Up On Me (Nick Vigarino/J. Melnikas) – Kathi McDonald – Above & Beyond - Merrimack Records, Seattle, Wa

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