Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Woodhouse.
Hi Nick, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started off with piano when I was 3 years old. I was classically trained, or at least as classically as a 3 year old can do. I had a sound in my head that I couldn’t quite figure out. It wasn’t until my teenage years that I figured out I was making jazz/R&B band ideas. I could never articulate them quite that well. I ended up quiting piano after 5 years, then went on to learn trumpet and drums in middle school. Being out in the country in Marengo, Illinois, there wasn’t going on musically so I was stuck thinking about what music I could be doing. Then I saw my inspiration to play bass: a disney show about a rock band living with a high schooler. the show was Iron Weasel, and seeing the bassist slap got me hooked. I picked up bass guitar around 7th grade and finally got to slapping. When I entered high school I joined the marching band on drums and tried the jazz band. At this point I didn’t know if my future would involve drums or bass. My dad, seeing that my future was most likely a musical one, introduced me to drumcorp. I auditioned for Phantom Regiment, Pioneer, and Colts. Being from the country I didn’t realize how much my other musical peers could be trained. I was wildly underpreapred. Thankfully with the help of my dad’s research, mom’s encouragement, and my fast learning I made it into the Colt Cadets Fire and Ice show in 2015. Marching on snare for that summer made me realize that I wasn’t meant for drums. I needed more notes and more lowend. So, I stuck with bass and studied both classical and jazz at the same time with John Floeter and Joe Policastro respectively. I also went to the after school program at Midwest Young Artist Convservatory now run by Alyssa Allgood. After high school I went to the University of North Texas for jazz bass, made it into the 3 Oclock and Latin jazz ensemble, the blue note combo (recently UNT made auditioned combo groups), and graduated the fall of 2020 (a semester early). During college I also went to Hershey park to play with the Sodapops in 2019 and recorded/performed with the Rebel Alliance Jazz Ensemble (most recently with Randy Brecker though those recordings aren’t released yet). Once I graduated and was settling into the covid pandemic workspace, I played with Jubilee theaters and their production of Dream Girls 2022 which won an award I forgot, played with other jazz stars in the DFW area like Quamon Fowler, Ted Parsnow, and Alex Hand, who I recorded with on his album Handsome Answer. My own band has been playing around for a year now, mainly at Reveler’s Hall in the bishop arts district of Dallas. And I have released some singles under my name, though those are my singer songwriter projects where I mixed and mastered the whole thing. More music will be released at an indefinite date.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There were the struggles of being out in the country growing up. Thankfully, the internet provided me with a lot of information on what was possible musically and I had very supportive parents that got me to music events around the suburbs of Chicago. There were also some unfortunate racial things I had to deal with growing up. Growing up, kids would hit me because I was a big black man and teachers would turn their heads away because a big black man could take it. And when the second black boy came in my class, the teachers would keep a more attentive eye on his actions to make sure he was on the straight and narrow more than the other white boys who were already there or were also new. Coming to a college town like Denton, Texas was a nice relief. Much friendlier, and of course more musically inclined.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a professional musician who mainly plays bass (both upright and electric). I specialize in jazz but also play R&B, cumbia, and pop. I’ve also done some orchestra gigs to fulfill the childhood need to play in an orchestra. I love to slap on my electric, and also tap classcial pieces. Though classcial tapping on electric is not the most hirable skill in the music market right now. For jazz upright bass I like to use a bow at times, which is not the most common for jazz bassists. Which is a little sad. The bow is not only a beautiful tool for the upright but it can also make some things easier on the player. What has made me stand out the most from my fellow upright bassists though is my percussion skills. I play percussion on my bass while also playing basslines. It is a skilled that I tried copying in high school from one of my favorite bassists Adam Ben Ezra. After completing his online course and further experimenting I am now quite proficient with handling the two things at once. I’ve even added a foot pedal and cowbell to my rig to add more options every now and then. During my own shows you can hear the wonderful mix of bass and percussion along with my own rapping on my song A Kind Funeral.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love the people in Dallas. I’ve made several friends that are very musically and scholarly intelligent. The other day I was having a conversation at Reveler’s Hall with some friends that started as naming our favorite records to the historiographic analysis of some of the U.S.’s recent war campaigns and the information soldiers were given that differed from what the citizens received. I am not a fan of the heat. First coming here and experiencing above 100 degree summers and winter that barely went below freezing was a big change from Illinois weather.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nickwoodhouse.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ndwoodhouse?igsh=MTk2dmdyZmRhbDZ2eQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1DPPrAWBKp/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nickwoodhouse1715
