PROFILES

Ben Nichols

His music: Ben Nichols, 34, made a name for himself as the front man of the Little Rock pop-punk outfit Red Forty. On this side of the Mississippi, the gravelly-voiced singer played in the short-lived punk band Vegas Thunder before co-founding Lucero with guitarist Brian Venable in 1998. Within two years, Lucero had recorded an independent release, The Attic Tapes, and began touring at a hectic pace. After stints on local labels, Lucero inked a four-album deal with the Universal Music Group. Lucero recently toured with Irish punk icons the Pogues.


In $5 Cover: Nichols portrays a character who’s largely true-to-life: a fun-seeking, hard-living Memphis musician. Romance ignites while Nichols is on stage at the Young Avenue Deli, and spins out of control at the West Memphis Speedway. Featured songs: “San Francisco,” “A Dangerous Thing.”


In $5 Cover Amplified: Nichols, a fatalistic, romantically minded songwriter, eschews his dream of “a little piece of land, a cabin, and a nice, settled life” for a rocker’s life on the road.


On Memphis music: “It’s not a bad gig, because I get to drink in a different bar every day, which isn’t the healthiest lifestyle, but it’s one I enjoy.”


Latest news: Nichols’ debut solo effort, The Last Pale Light in the West, a stark, acoustic retelling of Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian,” was released in January. Lucero is recording a new full-length, slated for a fall 2009 release.


--Andria Lisle


Lucero's website



Follow us on:

$5 Cover Amplified Summary:

Intimate, thoughtful, always entertaining and often formally daring, the 12 documentaries that comprise the anthology "$5 Cover Amplified" reveal a modern Memphis music scene that is as creative, passionate and vibrant as in the city's commercial heyday, when Elvis, Isaac Hayes and Al Green demonstrated that visionary art and popular culture could be inseparable as the 'A' and 'B' sides of a vinyl record.

Produced as a complement to Craig Brewer's episodic MTV drama series/ new media experiment, "$5 Cover," the "Amplified" series of documentary portraits chronicles the rousing art, uncertain careers and sometimes problematic home lives of a diverse, distinctive and often eccentric group of Memphis music-makers.

Mesmerizing Valerie June croons confessional lyrics from beneath a Medusan tangle of dreadlocks that's as thick as her family ties and her musical roots. The puckish Tommy Chong-meets-Pippi Longstocking "clown prince of rap," Muck Sticky, proves to be as dedicated to the welfare of his mother and sister as to his own pursuit of happiness. Punk rock pioneer Jack Oblivian, who plays to sell-out nightclub crowds in Europe, makes ends meet in Memphis by cleaning houses. "Crunk" hip-hop artist Al Kapone is shown to be a tough but loving father, bringing new urgency to the concept of rapper as "role model." Troubadour of heartbreak Harlan T. Bobo is portrayed impressionistically, through stop-motion animation, allegorical fantasy and other conceits.

Whatever the focus or style, the direction of Alan Spearman, an award-winning photographer/filmmaker with The Commercial Appeal, ensures that each segment is as visually assured as it is musically irresistible. "$5 Cover Amplified" was co-produced by Spearman, Andria Lisle and John Hubbell, and edited by Eileen Meyer; their familiarity with the Memphis "scene" ensures unprecedented authenticity as well as access.

John Beifuss- The Commercial Appeal