A chance turn of events led to my friend and manager Jake Guralnick phoning me and asking if I would be able to put a band together to back up Nick on the Jimmy Kimmel show. I was thrilled; I have been a huge fan of Nick’s for so many years. He puts it all together in such a special way: deeply soulful lyrics and singing, thoughtful rhymes and a wry turn of phrase. I asked my compatriot Jay Bellerose to play drums and Benmont Tench came in to play keys. My sole regret was that we only had time to play two songs.
Nick did a really special thing after an already great career in the late 70’s and 80’s. He made a trilogy of soul records that I think stand as some of his greatest and most heartfelt work. ‘The Impossible Bird’, ‘Dig My Mood’ and ‘The Convincer’. It’s such a rare thing for an artist to take a chance like that after having already completed such a great body of songs. That really had an impact on me. Three of my all time favorite records.