Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicholas Gusman.
Hi Nicholas, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and mostly raised here South St. Louis with 2 sisters and a brother. I attended a Catholic school until the 6th grade.
My dad was a gas worker and my mother a bank employee. We moved to South County when my parents split up and I moved back to the city after high school and started performing at bars and open mics.I briefly moved to Chicago at age 23 and met a handful of musicians and learned a lot more in my time there.
My start in music came about age 18 with the song, House of the Rising Sun. I had friends that were musicians and I’d say guitar was a part-time interest up until then. It was unlike any song I’d ever come across. It’s a traditional song, so no one knows who wrote it. We only know it’s been handed down and changed shape many times. I guess I could hear that ancientness and the haunting tragic topic of the song stayed with me.
So from there, while I was still interested in popular music, most of my listening was moving more and more toward folk songs, roots, blues, and country music. The older the better. The topics hooked me and they were often very straightforward. They ranged from sinking ships to war to love and heartbreak, murder ballads, outlaws, ghosts, animals, jobs, and everything else.
I started writing pretty much immediately and after learning the guitar, my first song turned out to be a sorta sci-fi murder ballad. Full of crime-noir action, with the characters, plot, and landscape culminating in a cliffhanger ending.
The song isn’t very good haha. And I don’t think I’d ever play it out, but it opened up a part of my brain that I hadn’t been using and I was thrilled. As I played back my hissing tape recorded demo and heard myself singing as I believed in what I was singing, I knew I’d officially started on a big journey. I thought I had made a discovery and I started letting it take over and shape my life.
Fast forward another 18 years. Through many songs learned and forgotten, many scraps of paper with notes jotted down, sleepless nights, front porch song sessions, and midnight bedroom ballads.
Now I have a band called The Coyotes and they bring the songs to life in the clubs, bars, and venues. I’m very grateful to them. There aren’t many things that give me more joy than completely losing myself onstage with them in the heat of a performance. It’s nice to have a team and a home base for your art. That’s the band.
I’ve released two albums and am working on a third. I hope to stay healthy enough to just keep releasing music until the day I die. A forever project that I can’t finish.
I’ve played my songs in almost every state and in October/November, I’ll be playing them in Europe. The Coyotes and I have a three-week tour through Netherlands and Germany. It will be the biggest trip of my life.
The most challenging tour, the most band shows I’ve ever played back to back, and the farthest from home I’ve ever been. I can’t wait.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I have a song that starts out:
Every morning is a battle
living under the gun
I dust the dreams off of my pillow
put on my dirty jeans
and walk out in the sun
and I’m burning like an engine
with a trail of smoke behind
disappearing in the distance
carrying this trouble
on my worried mind
The road has never been smooth. Money has always been scarce, but I’ve never been without the basics and I feel lucky and grateful for my position and place today.
Artist-specific struggles.
The pressure is always on and I am never fully at rest. Time is of the essence and my progress is slow at best. I am undeserving of recognition.
How long can I keep this up?
Am I an imposter?
Am I actually an artist or am I just pretending to be one?
These are the looming statements that never truly disappear. They wear you down. They provide some urgency and mystery and although they seem counter-productive, these mental gymnastics can actually help keep me motivated.
Like if I ever felt like I was caught up or good enough, I’d be bored to death. If I quit or give up, I’ll go insane or cease to exist somehow. Lose my identity maybe.
There is no blueprint for a life immersed in music, but like most musicians, I have to work a day job to make enough money. I started a handyman business to pay the bills and give me the freedom of schedule I needed. Sometimes, it feels like I have two full-time jobs and sometimes one of the jobs suffers because I don’t have the energy or willpower to hack it.
My day job is very labor intensive and lately has been very taxing on the tendons in my arms and hands. So is playing guitar for hours and loading heavy musical gear. Currently, I’m struggling with tendonitis and it’s causing a ton of physical pain. I’m working through it though and I think I’ll be on the mend soon.
The biggest struggle might have been accepting who I had become and leaning in harder. Quitting a good union job to focus on music more intensely and freely. I felt I’d painted myself into a corner and it took me a bit to change direction. I wish I would have made the shift sooner.
Despite any of this stuff, I feel grateful and aware. I’m happy doing what I do and who I’m doing it with. I’m happy to have the hunger and not know how my career will unfold. I’m grateful too, to be part of the music community here in St. Louis.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a songwriter. I also write poems and dabble in short stories. You can find me playing solo or with up to 6 people. I lead a six-piece Americana band called Nick Gusman and The Coyotes. The music is built around words.
While the band delivers a high-energy show and we have a ton of fun on stage we are always serving the song. Showcasing the feeling and making sure to not just play for the crowd, but play hard for us too and challenge ourselves. It’s draining and I love it! I often feel completely wiped out after a band show.
I sometimes get the chance to share stories and explanations of all the songs. That is very exciting for me.
I’m most proud when I finish a song. I usually take a walk with a celebratory beer and headphones and try to hear it for the first time. Or I drive around and play it a few times. That’s when I decide if I like it, but it’s always a win to complete one.
My songs set me apart because it’s just that simple. They are mine, different, and that goes for everyone else too. We could try to copy each other, but we can’t really! So I think they are unique songs, unlike any others. That’s just my opinion though, so listen for yourself!
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
A ten-year outlook on the industry? That’s so hard to see, but I do feel that the music streaming landscape will eventually change.
A hopeful prediction:
Spotify will become the old platform.
A new one will take its place and try to play the same game.
Then eventually things will come to a head.
Musicians will protest.
Major artists (who own their music) will protest too to keep their music off the platforms until an agreement is reached. Finally, a streaming service will arise with better dividends for the artists who they are making all of their profits from.
Vinyl will continue to rise in popularity. Folk and roots music will continue to rise in mainstream popularity.
The modern pop country will finally rename its genre too, Edward Jones Investments.
The Hollywood Casino will quit the music biz and start hosting rodeos. Not in the amphitheater, but inside the actual casino. They will change the name to The Hollywood Casino Royale Rodeo Bowl Showdown. The amphitheater will become a bowling alley. It will of course be called, Hollywood Bull.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nickgusmanandthecoyotes.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickgusman.music/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NickGusmanandthecoyotes/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDQQlm2JbaS6yuJJrck9I1A
Image Credits
Tiare Sadarananda
