When singer-songwriters Billy Droze and Gary Nichols get together, you can expect them to sing a little bit of everything – traditional Bluegrass, classic Country, sultry Soul and Americana. “We decided there are two kinds of music: the kind we like and the kind we don’t,” Gary Nichols said recently. The kind they like “is just really honest American singer-songwriter music, be it bluegrass or country.” Their fans agree (and cheer), no matter which type of music the two singer-songwriters include in their repertoire. For both musicians, their current tour is a return to their roots.
Billy Droze and Gary Nichols are coming to the Palm Springs Cultural Center on January 19th, 2024 as part of the Sand, Stars and Guitars Music Series. Both are multiple award-winners in their own right, but when they come together, they hit the heights of bluegrass, country and/or any other music the two decide to venture into. “It’s all about the lyric and the melody for us.” Nichols continued.
Both singers got into the music business early – when they were teenagers – and made their way to Nashville, getting music deals and releasing award-winning singles. Droze has earned fourteen number ones on the bluegrass charts. He has toured the country with his band Kentucky Blue and filled in as the lead singer of Shenandoah for a summer after opening for the legendary country band. Billy Droze has also been Grammy-nominated and is an International Country Music Association artist of the year.
“I was raised on extremely traditional country music,” Droze said. “Everyone else was listening to NSYNC, and I was listening to Charlie Pride, George Jones, Lefty Frizzell and Merle Haggard. I really love stepping in those roots. I tell everyone that comes to Nashville they should have to have a lesson in where the roots of country music came from.”
Gary Nichols grew up in the music town of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and entered the country music industry as a solo artist who cracked into the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart with his debut single “Unbroken Ground” in 2006. After that, he served as the lead singer and front man for the Grammy-winning bluegrass band The SteelDrivers from 2009 to 2017. His departure, a result of opioid addiction, led to several trips to rehab, before he got himself into recovery. Today, he’s sober, serious about helping others overcome addiction, and using his music to do that.
“Whether you’re a country fan or a lover of bluegrass, you’re going to love this concert,” said Keith Barnacastle, Publisher of The Bluegrass Standard magazine and Executive Producer of the Sand, Stars and Guitars Music Series. “Because Gary Nichols and Billy Droze bring the best of both genres together in a way that is both masterful and compelling.”
