Paul Nelson

Paul Nelson was a Grammy-winning guitarist, songwriter and producer who worked with​ everyone from Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy ​and Johnny Winter to ​members of The Allman Brothers Band. Since he started playing guitar as a youngster, he played in and formed as many bands in as many different styles as he possibly could, which testified to his passion for music, his depth of talent and his impressive work ethic.

INFLUENCES, BERKLEE, STEVE VAI

Born in Manhattan and raised in Connecticut, Nelson’s early influences were Billy Gibbons, Jeff Beck, Robben Ford, Johnny Winter, B.B. King,​ Albert Collins, Freddie King, Jimi​ Hendrix​ and Stevie Ray Vaughan.​ ​Wanting to study music at the highest level after finishing high school, he enrolled at Berklee College of Music. While on campus in ​Boston’s Back Bay, he discovered jazz greats such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Wes Montgomery, fell in love with jazz fusion and rarely had time for non-Berklee activities. “I spent almost all of my time studying and practicing and didn’t get out too often to see bands,” he says. “I went to a few shows at the Orpheum and the Paradise, and it was really cool when I was at the Paradise years later playing with Johnny [Winter].

While he was honing his craft, Nelson studied privately with legendary axeman Steve Vai. “I was in one of the practice rooms at Berklee when I heard this great guitarist and it was Steve Vai, who was playing guitar and smoking a cigarette at the same time,” he says. “I asked him if he gave lessons and he told me he’d never given them before. His fee was a carton of cigarettes per lesson.”

JOHNNY WINTER COLLABORATIONS

After finishing at Berklee, Nelson built a name as an A-list session player and touring musician, recording on LPs for Metal Blade Records with Connecticut-based Liege Lord and appearing on dozens of others released by Century Media, Drive Thru, Lion and other labels. Always wanting to grow as an artist, he began studying with fusion players Mike Stern and Steve Khan, and his session work le​d  teaming up with his mentor, Johnny Winter,​ at the famed Carriage House Studios in Connecticut​.

Nelson contributed his six-string prowess to Winter’s band and wrote songs including the title track ​on his I’m A Bluesman album, for which he received a Grammy nomination. He appeared on and produced Winter’s Roots (2011) and Step Back (2014), the latter of which won the Best Blues Album Grammy, a Blues Music Award for Best Rock Blues Album and debuted at #1 in the Billboard Blues Albums chart and #16 in the Billboard​ 200, making it Winter’s highest charting album.

Another well-respected local guitarist, Susan Tedeschi, appeared on Roots, and Nelson said he chose her himself out of many potential guests. “I ​wanted female vocals on the album and I had played with her husband, Derek Trucks, so I called him,” he says. “For the ‘Bright Lights Big City’ track, I told Susan ‘I need you to sing the whole song.’ I recorded Johnny singing the whole song too, and then edited it as a duet and it sounded like they were in the same room. In the final mix, I had Johnny singing the first verse and Susan the next; in the chorus, they answered each other and in the outro they both sing together. Neither of them knew I was going to produce the song this way.”

In 2007, Nelson produced all 13 albums for Johnny Winter’s Live Bootleg Series​, which reached the top 10 on Billboard’s Blues Albums chart ​and he appeared in and was executive producer of the documentary Down and Dirty (about Winter’s life and career). Nelson was in another music-related documentary, Sidemen: Long Road To Glory, with Gregg Allman, Bonnie Raitt, Elvin Bishop, Pinetop Perkins and Hubert Sumlin.

TELEVISION PROJECTS, HALIFIX COLLABORATION, XBOX

Among the highlights of his career are being credited as the composer and performer for music heard on NBC, TNN and UPN as well as the XFL League, for which he wrote all the music. Nelson also performed on the Halifax song “Anthem For Tonight” (from their Inevitability Of A Strange World album), which has been included in the Xbox game Prey.

“I was hired to play the solo for the Halifax MTV video and the song got picked up by Xbox and charted at #1 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Album chart,” he says. “In the game, players go in and decide what kind of music they want played while picking out weapons to kill aliens. The other bands in the game are Ozzie [Osbourne], Heart and Judas Priest, so I’m in pretty good company.”

AWARDS, SOLO PROJECTS, RADIO WORK, DEATH

Nelson was honored by the New York Blues Music Hall of Fame​ three times​ and received the prestigious KBA Award from The Blues Foundation for his efforts at “keeping the blues alive.” In 2017, he was nominated for a Grammy for his work as producer and performer on blues icon Joe Louis Walker’s LP Everybody Wants A Piece.​ He recorded a highly acclaimed solo instrumental album Look (2001) and in 2017 signed a solo deal with Sony Music and cut Badass Generation. 

From 2018 until his death on March 10, 2024 of a heart attack, he co-hosted The Johnny Winter Rock and Blues Hour on Connecticut’s WPKN. During his five decades performing and recording, he was featured in a variety of publications including Rolling Stone, Billboard, USA Today, Guitar World, Guitar Player, Premier Guitar, Classic Rock and Vintage Guitar.

(by A.J. Wachtel)

ARTIST COLLABORATIONS

• Johnny Winter
• Buddy Guy
• Billy Gibbons
• Vince Gill
• Slash
• Brian Setzer
• Joe Perry
• Derek Trucks
• Edgar Winter
• Ben Harper
• ​Dr John
• Hubert Sumlin
• Rick Derringer
• Robben Ford
• Joe Bonamassa
• James Cotton
• Warren Waynes
• Steve Vai
• Sonny Landreth
• Earl Slick
• Dickey Betts
• Mark Knopfler
• Joe Walsh
• Pat Travers
• Larry Carlton
• Elvin Bishop
• Ronnie Earl
• Susan Tedeschi
• ​The Blues Brothers Horns
• Harvey Brooks
• ​Larry Carlton​
• ​Los Lobos​
• Kenny Wayne Shepherd

DISCOGRAPHY, DVDS, BOOKS

• Wacken Open Air(DVD) (2000)
• Look– Paul Nelson (2001)
• Warmth in the Wilderness: A Tribute to Jason Becker– various artists (2001)
• Gigs From Hell: True Stories From Rock and Roll’s Frontline(book) (2003)
• A Return To Fantasy: A Tribute To Uriah Heep– various artists (2003)
• A-Z of Power Metal (Rockdetector, 2003) (book/CD)
• Beyond Inspiration: A Tribute to Uli Jon Roth– various artists (2003)
• I’m a Bluesman– Johnny Winter (2004)
• The Collector’s Guide To Heavy Metal(book) (2005)
• The Mob(2006)
• The Inevitability of a Strange World– Halifax (2006)
• Pigswear– EMI/Virgin (2007)
• Johnny Winter Live Bootleg Series Volume 1(2007)
• Warmth in the Wilderness, Vol. II: A Tribute to Jason Becker(2007)
• Johnny Winter Live Bootleg Series Volume 2(2008)
  Producer​
• Johnny Winter Live Bootleg Series Volume 3(2008) – Producer​
• Johnny Winter Live Bootleg Series Volume 4(2009) – Producer​
• Raisin’ Cain: The Wild and Raucous Story of Johnny Winter(book) (2010)
• Live On The Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise– Joe Louis Walker (2010)
• Johnny Winter Plays The Blues(Book/CD) (2011)
• Roots– Johnny Winter (2011)
• Live From Japan– Johnny Winter – DVD (2012)
• True to the Blues: The Johnny Winter Story– Johnny Winter (2014)
• Step Back– Johnny Winter (2014)
• Everybody Wants a Piece– Joe Louis Walker (2015)
• Blues Christmas– various artists (2015)
• Southern Rock Christmas– various artists (2015)
• Badass Generation– Paul Nelson Band (2016)
• ​Lance Lopez – Live in NYC (2016) – Producer​
• Johnny Winter: Down and Dirtydocumentary (2016)
• The James Montgomery Blues Band– James Montgomery (2016)
• Life of a Dreamer– Yonrico Scott (Derek Trucks) (2016)
• 10,000 Feet Below– Eliza Neals (2017)
• InstrumentHead– Michael Weintrob (book) (2017)
• Eyes of The Sun– Otis (2017)​
• Next in Line– Tyler Morris (2018) – Producer​
• The Worldwide Mega-Book of Heavy Metal Bands (Rock & Roll Reference Series) (book)