K.I. will be heading back down for another season at Foxy's in the British Virgin Islands mid-December, so check out his calendar for upcoming gigs in California!
K.I. Nicholas brings a unique music style that blends the traditional Caribbean sounds he grew up on in Grenada with the music he found in his travels into the US and Canada. TWO WORLD FUSION, his latest CD with TEN original songs will be released in early 2008 is so uniquely his own fusion of blues, Caribbean, soca, and African with a touch of funk, rap and R & B that there is just no one else out there with this sound! Nicholas is more than a talented guitar player and singer, he's a multi-faceted musician who plays several instruments, writes and composes his own music. The CD was recorded at Rockolito Studio in Oakland.
Born Raymond Nicholas in the village of Prospects in the parish of St. Patrick in the West Indian tropical island country of Grenada. He was one of thirteen children that grew up listening to island music and steel drums. He taught himself guitar as a kid and started to build upon the music of his country.
Over the years K.I.'s music has moved through Reggae, Soca, Calypso, Caribbean Fusion, Rock and Pop. In the mid-1990s K.I. traveled to Canada where he played with several African and African Jazz Fusion bands. In his twenty years of playing he has soaked up a lot of different kinds of music, but it was when he first found the blues clubs in Toronto that he found the music that would chart his musical course.
In 2005 after years of traveling, touring, playing backup and lead guitar in bands, and doing solo performances in every size venue from intimate to stadium throughout Grenada, the Caribbean, and Canada Nicholas launched his recording career in December of 2005 with the release of his first CD entitled Caribbean Vision. All songs were written and composed by KI. He played electric, acoustic and slide guitar, bass and keyboards, as well as singing lead and background vocals.
After three extended gigs as guest house performer at Foxy's on the island of Jost van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands in 2005, 2006 and 2007, Nicholas made his move to the United States in June of 2006! He is now based in the San Francisco Bay Area. You can hear more of his sound on his website www.kinicholas.com
