Nick Sterling emerged not as a formed band in the traditional sense but as a solo guitarist and songwriter who began recording and performing as a child prodigy in Mesa, Arizona. Nicholas James Sterling is an American guitar player and songwriter from Mesa, Arizona, who started learning guitar at the age of 7; by the age of 10, he had released his first CD, Ten. At age 10, he shared a stage with Alice Cooper at a New Year's Eve concert, an early sign of the prodigious talent that would define his reputation. When he was 13, guitarist Dave Mason expressed admiration for his talent, and by his teenage years Sterling was already a fixture on the regional rock circuit, blending hard rock chops with a self-taught, multi-instrumental sensibility.
Sterling's breakthrough years arrived in the mid-2000s, a period when his archive photographs would have been taken, as he built his reputation as a solo artist and in-demand sideman. In 2005 he released his second CD, Life Goes On, playing all the instruments, doing the vocals, and recording both CDs himself. His skill drew attention from major acts, and Sterling played with a number of famous rock musicians and bands, including Aerosmith, Kid Rock, Cheap Trick, Cinderella, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Gary Hoey, Peter Frampton, Gavin Degraw, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Jackyl, Sebastian Bach, and Guns N' Roses. During this same window he began building a media presence beyond performing, as since 2008, he has been a columnist for Modern Guitars Magazine. The most defining chapter of Sterling's career arc came when he stepped into the role of lead guitarist for a rock icon. On October 12, 2009, Sebastian Bach announced that after a long search he had chosen Sterling to be his new guitar player, and Sterling joined Bach on stage for the first time in Helsinki, Finland, on December 12, 2009, when they opened for Alice Cooper. Sterling appeared on the former Skid Row singer's 2011 solo album, "Kicking & Screaming," before leaving the band. His run with Bach included extensive touring, and Bach himself praised the young player as someone with the potential to carry rock guitar into a new generation. Sterling's tenure with Bach eventually ended, and on August 13, 2012, Sterling was fired from Bach's band after refusing to sign a release to perform with Bach on AXS TV. In the years since, Sterling has continued to evolve, moving through Phoenix's rock scene and later into Americana territory. He became the lead guitarist in the Phoenix, AZ based band WYVES, and more recently helped form Nick Sterling & the Nomads, an Americana group from Austin, TX. That project reflects a more personal turn in his songwriting, informed by his service as a former infantryman in the U.S. Army and Purple Heart recipient, who brings integrity and authenticity to songs of loss, struggle and love. His reputation as a guitar prodigy turned battle tested veteran and songwriter has given him a lasting, if under the radar, place in the story of American rock and roots music, respected by peers ranging from arena headliners to the Americana community he now calls home.
It is fitting that Nick Sterling holds a place in Wayne Dennon's concert photography archive, a collection built from shows Wayne documented starting in 2002 through the years he was most active behind the lens. Wayne photographed Sterling across three shows between 2006 and 2008, capturing the guitarist during the very stretch when he was sharpening his reputation as a young rock talent and building the connections that would soon lead him to the Sebastian Bach stage. Those 52 images, drawn from performances in two different cities across two states, remain among the archive's most viewed pieces, a testament to both Wayne's eye for a rising player and the enduring pull of Sterling's story for fans who return to revisit it.
