“Ross Nickerson is indeed a big dog 5 stringer. He can PLAY, and a gentleman too! His solo CD, “Blazing The West” …is RECOMMENDED!!! – Mike Weber

“Just wanted to add my thoughts to the Ross Nickerson cd. Love it! Just got it, this week, and it starts airing on our bluegrass show next week” - Michael Reece-WIFE

What Bluegrass Now Magazine is saying.............

“Award-winning banjo wizard Ross Nickerson does a bang-up job on his new release, “Blazing the West.” He has assembled a stunning cast of master musicians that serve up tasty instrumental renditions of bluegrass, western swing, country and folk, from the opening notes of a ripsnorting “El Cumbanchero” to the closing refrain of a dreamy “Streets of Laredo.” Guest artists include Ranger Doug, Woody Paul, Too Slim, Tim O’Brien, Butch Baldassari, Mike Bub, Jason Carter, Joe Craven, David Grier, Darol Anger, Rob Ickes, Laurie Lewis, Peter McLaughlin, Ben Wilborn, and Tom Rozum. Wow, what a killer lineup! A special treat is to also hear Nickerson and friends pick the living daylights out of four self-penned tunes: Garcia, Gunslinger’s Blues, Lonesome Cowboy, and Standing Eagle. Garcia is a challenging contemporary piece that features some hot melodic picking.
“Gunslinger’s Blues” hits the target dead on for showing that, yes, a banjo can effectively play the blues. “Lonesome Cowboy” is a minor-keyed fiddle tune, that trucks, and “Standing Eagle” is a screaming Texas-style fiddle tune that reminds me a bit of an up-tempo Sally Goodin’. Nickerson has much performing, recording, and teaching experience under his belt, and it clearly shows that he’s a consummate and professional 5-stringer. He currently fronts his own band called Ross Nickerson and The Fast Brothers, which showcases his original and other material. He currently plays a Goldstar banjo, which he affectionately calls his “Masterclone.”
Clearly a product of many musical influences, Nickerson shows that he is comfortable with an eclectic body of music. I can almost see sagebrush rolling by as Nickerson’s fingers roll on his strings. “Blazing the West” is a splendid compilation of highly arranged, hotly picked tunes that break new trail for demonstrating the great versatility of the instrument and its master. I highly recommend that you pick up this album and throw it on your Walkman during your next trail ride. Five-string players may also want to get the tablature book for this album.” - Joe Ross

Reviewed by: Joey Black

“Blazing the West” is a lot less talk, and a lot more action! Ross Nickerson blazes right past the line of mixing bluegrass and traditional western music. A line that few bluegrass musicians choose to cross, for fear that they will fall into a terrible stereotype, and not recover.
“Garcia”, one of Nickerson’s four original pieces, is truly a highlight to this completely instrumental album. It showcases his writing talent and his ability as a seasoned banjo player to smoothly blend melody with his solo breaks, as well as slip into solid backup rhythm with the rest of the band. Other highlights include the extremely lonesome sounding approach to “Streets of Laredo” and the straight-ahead, yet very stylistic “Ghost Riders in the Sky” and “Red River Valley”. Ross also creatively produces the sound of an old player piano with his five-string in “Texas Blues.” Ross does a great job of mixing traditional western songs with some contemporary compositions. The album is tastefully peppered with the talents of top-notch bluegrass musicians including; Mike Bubb, Jason Carter, Rob Ickes and David Greir, just to name a few.

BLAZING THE WEST TABLATURE BOOK

Easy to read tablature with tips on learning the songs, backup tips, notes on each song, and some photos.

BLAZING THE WEST TABLATURE BOOK AND CD$24.95 BOOK and CD $17.95

4 originals by Ross. They could not have started this project off with a more appropriate selection. Ross Nickerson sets his banjo on fire with his El Cumbanchero . All western oriented tunes, and performed with unparalleled instrumental mastery by Ross Nickerson, Tim O’Brien, David Grier, Joe Craven, Rob Ickes, Mike Bub, Ranger Doug, Jason Carter, Butch Baldassari, Peter McLaughlin and “Too Slim”. Very diverse and all excellent selections that make either great background or forefront music. You can almost smell and taste the gunpowder in Ross’s original Gunslinger Blues. I really enjoyed each and every tune n this project. VERY well produced. - Jerry Paul

“Blazing The West”

With banjo player Ross Nickerson the “Oldwest” is making its entry in the “Restricted Area” of bluegrass music. The sound you’re going to meet on this album is a rather unusual sound; trying to fuse the music from the “Cowboy Era” with the music from the mountains in the East. It is definitely not bluegrass music as one might expect it, it is a very own and personal way of playing the five string banjo. It is unique, surprising, extra-ordinary, risky and enchanting music. A typical album for a “trained listening ear.” – Ted Clark