We caught up with Nick Colionne at his studio just before he hits the road, touring and promoting his new CD No Limits.  In stores July 8, 2008, from Koch Records

SV:  Welcome back to SmoothViews.  We congratulate you on the new album No Limits and on your new record label situation.  A lot of artists don’t have record labels anymore.
NC:  Yeah, I was fortunate. I’m real happy Koch picked me up.  Several record companies were contacting me! I had never been in that position before where I had three record companies at one time trying to sign me.  I could have gotten crazy and said, “It’s good to be the king.”  But you know, I got on my knees and started thanking my Maker. “Every time a door closes, God, you say you’ll open another one, and you did!”  He’s opening doors for me and I want you to know that I appreciate it.  I know I’m not doing this by myself.  A lot of people think that they’re controlling it.  I learned from the Just Come On In record, when “High Flyin’ ” was out, so many interviews I did and people would ask me when that record came out, when “High Flyin’ ” came out, “So what do you think you did different this time that this record clicked so much?”  I said, “I got out of God’s way.”  Very truthfully, I got out of the studio around 11 o’clock at night.  The final mixes, I had everything in my hand. I came down the elevator, and walked out to get a cab, and I was standing waiting for a cab.  I looked up at the sky and I said, “God, whatever you choose to do with this record, that’s what’s going to happen. I did the plan.  I played the music you put in my heart. I leave it up to you to do what it’s going to do.”  And He did it.  My Grandmother used to say, “You’ve got to get out of God’s way.”  And that’s what happened.  You know, people pray all the time. The main thing in the Lord’s Prayer is “Thy will be done.”  Thy will can’t be done if you keep doing it! (laughs)  And so I feel that to be able to play music is a gift.  Not to do it is a sin; because if you’ve got the gift, you’re supposed to share it.  That’s why He gave it to you, to share it with other people.  And so I try to share the gift.  I try to be the best person that I can be all the time.  I want to be the best musician I can be, but first of all, I want to be the best person that I can be.  I want to be a person that, if somebody doesn’t like a song of mine, they would still say “He’s a good guy.”  It might not be enough for them to buy my record, but to walk away with the attitude that “He’s a good guy. He’s for real and everything he does comes from the heart.”  I don’t like to just spit stuff out at people that I don’t mean. I’m telling them what I’m feeling.  So many people say to me “You know, you’re so funny when you’re on stage!”  I’m not trying to be funny.  I’m just saying what’s on my mind.  The band members say, “You’re about one crazy dude. That’s some of the craziest stuff.”  That’s what’s on my mind, then that’s what I say. If it happens to be funny, most of the time people are laughing. Hard to believe, but sometimes it isn’t funny to me, I’m serious!!

SV: What you just said, it hits home.  The secret of life is having enough humility and willingness to let go and allow God to work in our lives.  It’s so simple. But it’s so hard to do sometimes.  As long as we keep trying, that’s what counts.
NC:  We have free will. We’re beings with free will.  We tend to want to be the masters of our own destiny.  Sometimes that can be messing us up.  Half the time, I don’t even know who I am when I wake up!! (laughs) Until I look in the mirror, then I know “Oh!  It’s you!” (laughing)

SV:  You make a career in music look so easy.  From jam sessions, performances, working with the students, to doing Epiphone workshops. It’s impressive - all that you’re doing!  All this love in action must be helping to shape the music that comes out of you. This new record is superb!
NC:  I’m glad you like it…because it was kind of scary. (laughs) Just Come On In with “High Flyin’ ” was such a cool record. I was a little nervous when it came to Keepin’ It Cool.  It was well received.  OK, so now what am I going to do?!  That was the question…what will I do now? I sat down and said “There are no limits to what you can do if you put your mind to it!”  Henceforth the title, No Limits.  I didn’t want to make a record that had continuity and flow but was just the same thing over and over and over again. I wanted a record that when people put it on they could leave it on.  You know, they want a vocal song? There is a vocal song, and something uptempo, something to slow down.  Kind of like you do a live show.

SV:  That’s a really good analogy.
NC:  You don’t want to keep your music at one continuous pace all the time. You go different places.  I tried to experiment with some different genres, some different grooves from different genres.  It worked out. (laughs)

SV:  I’ll say! There’s a track on the new record that has really captured my attention.  I think it could be a very big hit.  Your vocals are so impressive on “Melting Into You”.  Oh My!  It is so hot I have to fan myself.
NC:  It was a rough one.

SV:  How so?
NC:  I have Jim Peterik to thank for producing me on that vocal.  I did two or three takes and he says “OK, let’s come on. Let’s do this!” So, I go “OK.” I like the way he produces because he just lets me do my thing and then he’ll say “Hey, why don’t you do that again.  I think you got a better one in you.” (laughs)

SV:  How did you hook up with Jim?
NC:  I met Jim Peterik at Jazz on the Vine last year at the show.  He came up the CD line.  He was talking with me and he said, “You know, we should get together and write something.”  And I went over to his house and we’ve written about six or seven songs together.  I put two on this particular project “Melting Into You” and “Hardline.”  He said, “Why don’t you do this one and that one!”  I said, “Man, I’m already doing three vocals.  People will start thinking I’m a singer!” (laughs)  I’m going to go with three and we’ll call it a day.  We’ll save some.  Maybe the next record I might put 4 vocals on! (laughs)

SV:  (laughing) You’ve got almost half the next record done already!
NC:  Yeah!  Four in already!

SV:  In your live shows, I’ve seen people that love to hear you sing.  So, yeah!  More vocals!!!
NC:  I’m starting to get more comfortable with vocals.  I wasn’t real comfortable for a long time, you know.  I’d do a song or two here or there. “Rainy Night in Georgia” was my signature song.

SV:  Well, you’ve got a new one…it’s called “Melting Into You.” (laughs) Your live shows are so enthralling, full of passion and fun.  Anytime people get to be around you, they get to experience all that.  You have so many fans all over the place.  I saw the picture in the newsletter of your recent San Diego show.  It’s a picture you took from the stage looking back down the street.  It is packed with people. That is really impressive that you can draw huge crowds and sell your music all the way down the block.
NC:  That was fun.  I went out into the audience; next thing I know is I was engulfed in people.  My mind said, “Hmmm, was this a good idea?” but people are always cool. The band lost me.  They couldn’t see me.  “Where’s he at?!”  I’m waving my hand in the air.  Then, they go “OK, there he is, the man with the hat on, right there!” (laughs) I like going out into the crowd.  Basically, I just really like people. I like intermingling with people whether it be on stage or in my personal life.  I like being with people.  You know, I can’t get into that stand-off-ish kind of thing, because when it is all said and done, I’m still Nick Colionne from the west side of Chicago.  I haven’t changed, you know.  I’ve got some records playing on the radio, and that’s about it! I’m still the same cat. (laughs)

SV:  You are so down to earth and caring.  I’m sure the kids at school adore you. You must have so much fun working with the students.
NC:  Yeah, they think I’m one of them! (laughs)  I have so much fun at school with the kids, going on field trips and stuff.  We went to the baseball game, one of the end-of-the-year field trips. And they know I’m going to do the same thing.  They are 7th and 8th graders.  The 8th graders this year were 7th graders last year. And they know my M.O.  It was a nice day; it was breezy.  We’re sitting out watching the game.  They know I’m going to get a bunch of food first. Then I sit down, I put my sun glasses on.  A few minutes later, I get a tap on the back.  “You’re asleep, aren’t you, Nick?! (laughs) Last year, you slept too.” (laughs)  I need that baseball game to get my rest. (laughs)  I wake up every couple of innings and ask “What’s happening?” then go back to sleep.  The kids will say “We want to go get something to eat.”  I’ll be thinking “Why you want to eat right in the middle of my nap?” I have to get up and walk down there to get something.  They like to spend out of my pocket. “I want to get this!”  “I want to get that!”  I’ll say, “Go on and get it so I can get back to my seat and continue what I was doing because that was important.” (laughs)  It’s always fun.  It’s a little sad because at the end of the year, I watch them graduate. I’ve been at the school 12 years; I’ve known a majority of these kids since preschool.  I watched them come from preschool all the way to 8th grade and graduate.  I’m looking at them saying, “Man, they’re getting old!” (laughs) I’m not! (laughs) It gets a little sad.  I find myself getting a little weepy at graduation.  So I just walk outside, then come back in and look cool. I have so much fun doing that.  During the summer, I get a bunch of kids together and we go fishing.  Now, that’s fun!

SV:  There was a great picture of the Fox River in your last newsletter. It’s a big, beautiful river.
NC:  Yeah.  Every time I go past the Fox River, I always look at it and say “This is MY river!  I own this river!” (laughs)

SV:  Have you been by since the big rains?
NC:  No, I haven’t been by there since all the big storms.  I was supposed to be going out there this weekend but they got a lot of flooding where I was going.  One of my buddies lives right on the Fox. He’s my fishing partner. Matter of fact, I took that picture right in front of his house, from his dock.  The Fox River is his back yard.
SV:  Did his dock and house survive the flood?
NC:  Yeah, he’s still good. It hasn’t come down that far yet. There’s more rain tonight. Hmmm. But I did go fishing yesterday.

SV:  Ah, good! 
NC:  I just went to the forest preserve called Busse Woods and caught a few up there, came in and called it a day.

SV:  What are you catching?
NC:  Yesterday, I caught a big ol’ bass.  That’s about the biggest bass I ever caught!  I was trying to catch some catfish, but they were very elusive yesterday. (laughs) I had a record day for myself - I went out to Shabbona State Park down in DeKalb County last weekend. It was so foggy out there. They would let us get the boats out on the water for awhile; then they wouldn’t let us go any farther, only just along the shoreline. But when I got out there, the fish were hitting - fast and heavy! (smiling) Good! Then the sun came out and they stopped!! (laughs)  I was too dumb to come in!  I stayed out there until 6:30 at night!

SV:  There’s something about being in a boat on the water, whether you’re catching fish or not. You’ve got a line in the water.  There’s always hope and the fun of anticipation.
NC:  Yeah!  You’ll feel a little tug…then, oh man, it’s just a snag.  I love fishing!  I do a lot of catch-and-release fishing.  I don’t take anything that I’m not going to eat.  If I’m not going to eat it, it’s going back.  I’ve had some really good fish frys! (laughs)

SV: Looking at your music career and your life, it sounds like you’re living your dream.  Are you happy with the way things are going?
NC:  I’m very happy. I could always be happier. (laughs)  I’m working a lot.  I am thankful to God for providing me the work.  I could use some more because I love being out there.  I’m working steady.  Getting out there, meeting people, playing music for them, enjoying that, enjoying time with the band, hanging out.  Hanging out with different people in different places.  In San Diego, I had such a great time.  They had a VIP party and asked me to come by.  I talked to a whole lot of people who were at the show.  It’s always good to find out what people are feeling about what you did.  Sometimes, I’ll feel like I’ve had a really bad day.  I’ll walk off the stage, “Man, I wasn’t playing too well today.” Then somebody will come up and say, “That was the greatest I’ve ever heard you play!!!”  I think I sounded awful and they say, “Man, you were great today.  I’ve seen you a thousand times this was the best ever.”  OK.  Maybe I’m not a good judge. (smiles)  It’s all about how you feel.  Being out there with the people makes me feel good.  If people know that you have love for them, they’ll return that. It’s like with kids, they can feel whether or not you’re loving it and you’re loving them. Hopefully, people know when I’m out there that I love being out there!  I love playing. There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing. I don’t go on the stage thinking, “Gee, I wish I was home swimming.” (laughs)  This is what I want to do.  If I had the energy, I’d do it all day, every day. I love playing the guitar.  I laugh a lot on stage.  People ask “What are you laughing at?!”  Sometimes, I’ll just be laughing at myself!  “Hmmm. Did I just play that?” It cracks me up.

SV:  Do you play every day?  When you’re not performing, do you practice at home?
NC:  Yes, just about every day.  For about three days last week, I didn’t play.  I was out messing around and working on my house.  And then I went to do a clinic. I could tell that I hadn’t played in two or three days. “Hmmm, fingers feel a little stiff here! (laughs) Well, back to the drawing board, no more hammering.”

SV:  Tell me about your gig at San Lucia.
NC:  It was Najee, Alex Bugnon, Ledisi and me. That was a really great day to me because I had never played with Alex Bugnon. I had never played with Ledisi.  I had never played with Najee. We came together a day ahead of time and rehearsed, went over some songs.  Then, it was “OK, let’s go do this!”  And everybody felt good about what we were doing.  We got to feed off each other and it was total fun.  I was thinking “Man, I wish we had another half hour on the stage.”  But we had to move so Anita Baker could come out.  

SV:  You’ve played with some greats in your life time. You’ve been on the stage with Natalie Cole, Al Green, The Chi-lites, The Impressions, Curtis Mayfield, and The Staple Singers.
NC: Yeah, from those early years of playing with the Staple Singers, I learned so much about who I am musically as a person.  I’ve learned from being with them.  Pop Staples was a good role model.  People ask me a lot why I dress the way I do.  I learned that early.  Pops told me “You’re in the entertainment business.  You just can’t go out there looking any kind of way.”  I always thought that as I grew older, my philosophy was that people deserve to see me look my best.  I was telling someone else, “If people want to see construction workers, they go to a construction site.  They don’t come to see a musician look like a construction worker.”  Watch all the old shows on TV; you see The Temptations. Man, they were dressed to the nines!  Well, this is the way I want to present myself. When people look at me, I want them to say he did take time to come looking decently.  And as my Mother says, “People see you before they hear you.”  They see you walk on to the stage before you play a note.  Try to grab their attention when you first walk out there.  OK, he must be about something.  He did put on a suit. (laughs)  He came for business.

SV:  How cool is it that Stacy Adams sponsors you!  They really get what you’re about.
NC:  The new vice president, Steele Davidoff, over there is so cool.  I haven’t met him in person yet.  He’s based in California and is supposed to come to my show in Long Beach.  I called him about my new album cover.  I said, “They want me to wear a white suit.  What do you have in white?”  He said “I’ve got something.  When do you need it?”  “Well the shoot is in two days!”  He said, “I’ll Fed Ex it to you.”  Cool!  They are right on target. The clothes just look so good and go so well.  And they know I love shoes. I can hear them saying, “We better get him some shoes, because he will be crazy if he doesn’t have the right shoes on!” (laughs) I’m waiting for them to start making underwear.  Then I would be dressed Stacy Adams all the way. (laughs)

SV:  There are some people I have to ask about because they are so important in your career.  One is Hollywood Dave [Dave Hiltebrand, Nick’s music director].  It looks like he played a really important role in this new record because the liner notes list all the instruments he plays and songs he wrote with you.  WOW! He is so versatile.
NC:  Dave is an all-around musician. He is a very accomplished piano player.  Piano was his first instrument. He didn’t start playing bass until later. His Dad’s a great pianist too.  I’ll tell Dave,  “You know, I’ve got this song.  I’m going to MP3 it to you. I want you to listen to it.  Tell me do you think I should go on with it.”  He’ll listen to it and say, “I think we could do something with this.”  “Well, why don’t you come out and let’s see what we can work out.”  He’ll come over.  We’ll start the day out with two dozen Krispy Kremes.  Krispy Kreme glazed donut stuff all over everywhere. (laughs)  I tell him, “Every time you leave, I’ve got to clean up.”  Anyway, we sit and listen and start playing with sounds.  I love writing with Dave because when I have ideas, sometimes I don’t know exactly where I’m going.  He tends to know where I need to go. “Well, what do you think of this?”  And sometimes he’ll come up with something crazier, “No, you can forget that.  Let’s go and try something else.”   Dave’s not only my music director and writing partner, Dave Hiltebrand is actually my best friend.  He’s been with me nine years. One day I told him, “You’ve been with me nine years!  That’s a long time for two cats to be playing together.” And he said, “You know when I first came to play with you? In Milwaukee at the Red Mill.”   His first gig with me was at the Red Mill in Milwaukee. It was so funny; he only had half a rehearsal when he came for the gig.  Lou Rawls was sitting in the audience. I kept calling him from the back. “Come on up here with me.” He was trying to stay back there and he was cracking me up. Not so long ago, he said to me, “You know, you’re the only person I’ve ever played with who has done everything you said you were going to do.”  I said, “Well, you know, you’ve got to believe in yourself.  And you’ve got to make sacrifices to get where you want to go.”  I make the sacrifice to do it, I’ll go out there and do what I need to do because I have goals in mind.  So I said to him, “You can play with me until you just don’t want to play any more.  You aren’t going anywhere and if you want to leave, but I’ll hold on and not let go.”  (laughs)  We hang out together.  Carol teases me, “If you get to a gig the day before the band, man, you just mope, mope mope!  As soon as Dave comes in the door, you start smiling. It’s like ‘Everything is all right now, Dave is here.’ ”  That’s how I feel.  When I see Dave, I say “OK, Dave is here. OK, I’m cool now.”  Dave has a way about him, a very easy going way.  I remember one time, everything about a certain gig was going wrong. Our flights were late; they didn’t have some of the back line.  I said “Man! Everything is going wrong.  We’ve got Murphy’s Law today.”  Dave looked at me and said “All that means is that we’re going to have a really great show today.”  It was one of our best performances. (laughs)
He’s a good cat.

SV:  I cannot leave this conversation until we get a chance to talk about the importance of Carol in your life [Carol Ray, Nick’s manager and business partner].
NC:  Carol…I don’t even know where to begin with Carol.  There are a lot of great managers out there.  I meet them and respect them.  But I’ve never known a person who had such faith in another person’s ability and talents.  It was that way from the beginning.  Carol believed in me; she didn’t just say she believed in me, she showed me she believed in me. When she worked for Motorola she made lots of sacrifices to get me to where I was trying to get to.  She finally said “Look, I could get you farther if I’m not working another job.”  And when she stopped working there, she just really got on it.  She was like BANG! BANG! BANG! I notice now when we’re on the road, other artists and other managers, they all have this respect for her. Although people think you are some kind of overnight success - even though you’ve been playing like 700 years - they know that part of who I am is because of her, her belief, her consistency. To keep pushing and pushing.  Sometimes she had to push me.  I remember years ago one time I called up and said, “I think I’m going to sell all my equipment and just stop because it’s not going anywhere. I’m tired of just playing around Chicago.”  You know, as a musician, you get frustrated. You say,  “It’s not happening for me.”  Finally, it clicked.  She can be very relentless.  When you have a manager that believes in you like that, you not only don’t want to disappoint yourself, you don’t want to disappoint that person. Other artists and their managers don’t necessarily travel together as much as Carol and I do. People say “Man, she’s everywhere with him.” Well, this is the way we are. We’re a team.  We work together. When I’m up on the stage, I’m watching her.  She’s giving me cues, and letting me know if I am too loud, or if she can’t hear me. She’s back at the sound man saying “Hey! Turn him up!” If I look at her and she just has this certain look on her face, I’ll tell myself,  “I must be on tonight cuz she’s got that look!” (laughs)  I try to live up to it.  For a long time, we didn’t have a booking agent. She played all the parts.  She’s trying to sell me.  I’ve got to live up to what she’s telling people.  If she is saying, “Nick can jump off a roof.” Well then, I’ve got to go practice jumping off a roof so that I can land right.  I know she’s out there telling people “Nick can do this. Nick can do that.”  She says, “I know you can do this.”  Some of the things, well, I don’t know if I can do that! (laughs)  “Yeah you can!”  I think that is part of being a great manager, to be like a trainer, to let your artist know that they can excel; they can do things beyond what they think they can do.  She’s always had that encouragement and that ability to just pull me up when I’m down.  I’ve had other managers come at me, big ol’ managers talk to me.  You know what, Carol says things like, “It’s been my goal to get you all the way up.  Maybe a bigger management company might be able to take you farther.”  You know what, we went this far together.  I don’t need a bigger management company.  Wherever I go, we’re going together. They can’t offer me more than what you can do.  And then I’d just be part of a big roster without the personal relationship. 

SV:  It’s such a gift to have someone like that in your life, someone that pushes you beyond your own limitations.  You have such a fantastic team.
NC:  I was lucky to get the people that work with me.  They all seem to be very relentless, like Tom and Christine Clark, our marketing and promotions team.  They don’t take “No.” They’ll beat you down until you say “Maybe.”  Carrie is so bubbly and keeps that fan club going strong. Our tour manager, Dolores, is out there with the cats in the band.  Carol says, “Getting musicians in one place is like herding cats.” So, Dolores has to run back and forth to get this one and that one.  You know, it’s time to go on stage and somebody feels like they need a hot dog. She’s got to go find them.  My booking agent is Steve Butler and he does a great job.  He’s young and not afraid to hustle, plus he’s got a great sense of humor which helps when you’re working with me!  I feel real fortunate to have the team I’ve got.  The most important thing is they all believe in what we’re doing. That’s the most important thing.  You can’t sell anything if you don’t believe in it.  They were all happy when they heard the project.  Cool!  Well, that’s a couple of record sales from the team. (laughing)

SV:  (laughing)
NC:  I have fun doing all this.

SV:  It has been a blast talking with you today.  Any last words to your fans?
NC:  I would like to ask everyone who reads this to, please, let’s try to put an end to breast cancer.  Support this cause.  Too many women I know and love, and that you know and love, have been affected. We need to stop it. I ask you to find a way to support research so it can be stopped.  Remember, there are no limits to what we can do if we pull together.  Thank you.

SV:  Thank you so much for being so generous with your heart today. We truly appreciate and enjoy spending time with you.