Aside from carving out a space for himself in the contemporary blues-rock scene, Jared James Nichols also has a side hustle as a podcaster, with the No Cover Charge Podcast, co-hosted with Tyler Larson, promising guitar aficionados and gearheads an “all-access backstage pass to the world of guitar.”
And, one of Nichols’ most memorable episodes is having Joe Bonamassa test out one of Gary Moore’s most prized amps – his 1989 Soldano SLO-100 head – which the Nerdville owner recently acquired at the Final Encore auction last year.
“Joe must have balls of steel because when we got there, the amp hadn’t been serviced or even turned on,” Nichols tells Guitar World in an upcoming interview about the experience.
Article continues belowAs Nichols explains, in the actual video, “you can see the power sizzle down, shut off, and then come back. It did that a few times. It’s like we were feeling Gary Moore’s spirit in the room.”
The podcast – and Nichols’ own reputation – means he gets to test out some pretty epic (and iconic) gear.
“I feel pretty spoiled when I think about all the cool shit I get to be around,” he says matter-of-factly. “I also did a video on Gary’s JTM45 Bluesbreaker, which another friend got at auction. I own Gary’s original Guv'nor pedal, so we used that with a 1959 Les Paul.
“Here’s the crazy shit: the power went out four times, which has never happened before,” he divulges. “ Then this horrible rainstorm came. Something weird and energetic happened. I got the chills and remember saying, ‘Dude, I think Gary Moore’s here.’”
Guitar World’s full interview with Jared James Nichols will be published in the coming weeks.
In related news, Nichols recently revealed why he stopped obsessing over acquiring more gear – and homed in on his playing instead.
