My name is Nico Wayne Toussaint. I was born on august 1973 in Toulon , France and I play harmonica since the age of 18. I ran into the blues when I was 15, through the Muddy Waters' record "Hard Again" featuring James Cotton on harp. Since then, the wildness high energy and raw sound of James Cotton have been my musical credo.

Vent du Sud (Southern Wind) is the name of my first band founded when I was 20 with my father on piano. For three years, the two of us plus some other musicians added to the band over the years, toured all around the south west of France from bars to campings and from campings to festivals. In 1996 I go on my own with a band under my own name Nico and Friends , doing straight Chicago Blues, as my father goes on with his own cajun band.

My middle name, Wayne , comes from my American godfather, Wayne Ready, former resident of Minneapolis , Minnesota . From1992 on, I have maintained an almost annual relation with the United States since my first trip there. One of the most significant stay that i did was in 1996-1997 when i got a position as French Teaching Assistant in Carleton College , Minnesota . On each one of those visits to the US , I spent a lot of time watching and listening to blues concerts, between Minneapolis , New Orleans and Chicago . Also on many occasions, i got to sit in with great musicians such as Jimmy Johnson, R.J. Mischo, Billy Branch, Luther Allison, Eddy C. Campbell, Cash Mc Call, Willy Kent to name a few. It happened to me at a young age, an age where those experiences have great impact on my musical education. In 1997, I record in Minneapolis my first cd C'est si Bon backed up by local musicians.

My collaboration with Dixiefrog Records goes back to 1998 with the album My Kind of Blues , recorded in one night in Minneapolis , with musicians from R.J Mischo¹s band. I recorded three other cds on Dixiefrog before releasing in 2004 a double live album Transatlantic Live recorded in France and in the US , acclamed by both the audience and critics

Since 1998, performing is my job, playing over 100 gigs a year all over the country but also in Europe (Belgium, Neitherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Macedonia , Italy) and other parts of the wolrd (Canada, USA, Ecuador, Syria).

To celebrate my 10 years of recording career, I am releasing on Dixiefrog Records in March 2007 my new production Southern Wind Blowin' , recorded only with my touring band members Rax Lacour on guitars, Antoine Perrut on bass and alto sax and Vincent Thomas on drums. This cd is a tribute to the musics from the south of United States , blues, cajun, country and southern rock, musics that i grew up with in my childhood, and an allusion to my first band Vent du Sud and to my father without whom I wouldn't be where i am now.

Boosted by the experience of the past 10 years as much as by the great memories of moments spent with you everywhere we played, we still regularly hit the road to meet you and to share with you our music and our pleasure to perform. I hope to see you soon in your area. Best, Nico