Nic Bevins never planned on becoming a musician when he moved to Chattanooga. He planned to finish a degree in physical education at UTC and return to the family farm in Loudoun County.
But a funny thing happened on the way to graduation…
To cope with the loneliness of pandemic learning, Nic taught himself to play guitar. Then he learned to sing and to write songs. And now four years later, he’s found venues who love to book him and a community of local musicians who are eager to see him succeed.
Now he feels the pull of two homes. He’s currently finishing his student teaching requirements, and as graduation approaches, you can sense the weight of those big life choices hanging over him.
Nic found an unlikely mentor in Roger Alan Wade, the great Chattanooga songwriter and uncle to Johnny Knoxville. “I went and listened to him play for weeks before I ever told him I played,” Nic said. He’s endearingly humble in that way.
Once Roger Alan Wade saw Nic’s potential, he was happy to tutor him on the craft of songwriting. “He told me to read. He said you can’t be a good writer if you aren’t a good reader. He told me to start with Hemmingway.”
Nic also picked up some great early advice from Eric Turner, who performs around town and regularly tours under the name E.T. “He told me not to write songs about women,” Nic laughed.
That bit of advice was meant as a guardrail to help Nic avoid tropes and romantic cliches young people inevitably fall into when they start writing songs. He encouraged Nic to focus on subjects like family, friendship, and his beloved hometown.
Ironically, that advice led Nic to write a great song about a woman: his late grandmother. The song Lighthouse is about how she collected lighthouse statues, and on a deeper level, it’s about how she was a lighthouse to her family.
In an age when music can be recorded easily and produced without a band, Nic’s taking a refreshingly slow pace to developing his art. That means there are no streaming albums or YouTube videos I can use to corroborate my claims about his talent.
So you’ll have no choice but to take my word for it, and catch Nic Bevins live on November 2nd along with Rachel McIntyre Smith and Jerry Holiday. The show will be the latest in the Quiet City pop-up concert series, which brings the best local music to unique local businesses. This month’s show will be held at Julie Darling Donuts on Frazier Avenue. Music starts at 8, and there is a $10 cover.
Between the demands of school and the pull of home, there aren’t many chances to catch Nic live. And come graduation, there may be even fewer.