As the Memphis six piece took the stage Tuesday night for a sold out show at Emo’s, frontman Ben Nichols’ first words were, “We are drunk, already,” an honest disclaimer that long-time fans come to anticipate and encourage as part of the live Lucero experience. The rowdy rockers kicked things off with “Darken My Door” off their 2009 release 1372 Overton Park, followed by “Watch it Burn” an old favorite from Nobody’s Darlings, and their famous cover of Jawbreaker’s “Kiss The Bottle.” more ›

Filling the dead-space between indiedom and the first major label outing for his band Lucero, Ben Nichols’s solo debut is as quiet and mannered a record as he’ll ever sing on. The sound - a bed of rambling guitar, pedal steel, piano and accordion more ›

Sit at the bar with a Lucero fan and you’ll hear a lot about Ben Nichols, and rightly so. In the quiet war of big personalities under the alt-country big-tent, Nichols holds his own; as the Memphis band’s creative hub and lead singer, he’s more brash and less deliberately poetic than Tweedy, and he’s held closer to his punk rock roots than Ryan Adams. If any other big name comes close to Nichols, it’s Patterson Hood careening off the edge. Regardless, he plays in that league. But for a guy to garner such constant comparisons to The Boss, The Replacements, and all of the above – and to stick out from every other singer who mythologizes Darkness On The Edge of Town – he needs a band. Nichols’s crew pulls all sorts of weight, but their sound isn’t gussied up or overly technical or bursting with embellishments. Even more than Nichols’s grating growl, this is where the punk starts to show – the band just puts in work, shoulder-to-wheel, fast and loose, and the songs (and Nichols) benefit as a result. more ›