You've seen the name Jared James Nichols on a handful of festival flyers throughout the years, or even caught the doomy blues musician on tour with John 5 at some point. Or maybe you even checked him out on our Jam In The Van list. Regardless, you need to check out Nichols' brand of crushing, smoky blues right here (or a killer Alice In Chains cover).
Praise aside, we're just glad Nichols is alright. In an Instagram post, Nichols revealed he was involved in a hit and run accident in Portland after a show. Nichols said the offending party hit his car, left, and then came back to retrieve some stuff while holding Nichols and a friend at gunpoint. Again – it's great that Nichols and company are alright, but holy shit!
"Last Night after my show in Portland, my friend Jessie & I were involved in a hit-and-run by a drunk driver. We were stopped at a red light and were plowed into the back of his car by a truck doing at least 40 mph. Besides some serious whiplash and being in complete shock, we were unharmed from the accident."
"Before we knew what was happening the driver jumped into the back of another truck and they sped off. We ended up calling the police and letting them know what just happened. While waiting for the cops to arrive, the get-away truck reappeared to come to get some things out of the now totaled vehicle they had left behind."
"The getaway driver locked eyes with me and pulled a handgun out of his waistband. He proceeded to put in a clip and load a round in the chamber. I immediately put up my hands and said 'please don't shoot me', I then started to run in the opposite direction as he drew his gun at me. I was waiting for the sound and the feeling of a bullet."
"At this exact moment a squad car rounded the corner, lights blazing. I'm screaming 'he has a gun'. The sight of the police thankfully scared him off and he didn't pull the trigger. Without the Portland PD coming at that exact moment, I felt certain that I would've been shot for literally nothing."