When music is part of your being it’s not a hobby. For Nic Olas (Burchett), there is not a single day that music is not part of his existence.

What is The Nic Olas Projects?

The Nic Olas Projects is, quite simply, various music projects that are fronted by Nic or that he is managing or directing. This consists of Nic performing solo, whether this is on acoustic guitar, electric guitar, or with backing tracking tracks.

Projects include The Blue Note Revival, which is an acoustic project with other acoustic guitarists covering old school, Delta, and other types of blues music. The Vibe Combo which is a group that performs mostly jazz standards but also dips into smooth jazz, fusion and more.

Then there is The Nic Olas Band, a blues/rock power trio which consists of guitar, bass, and drums. This is my main project and the one I tend to put the majority of my effort and creativity into.

Groups not under this umbrella that Nic is heavily involved with include The Big Harry Blues Band (blues), Harry & Nic (blues, jazz, Americana, and instrumentals), and Suspect Grooves (classic rock, blues and more playing bass guitar).

Nic also performs select shows with his band The Kaw Tunes, a three piece classic rock group. This band is made up of Mickey Munoz on drums (who performs with Nic in many of his other groups) and Paul Gibson on bass (who performed with Nic in bands in St Louis in the 90’s as well as being a member of The Hoodoo Brothers and The Kaw Tunes). Paul moved back to St Louis, so we only play select shows as this group.

Past groups and projects that are either on hiatus or are in the process of coming to an end include The Hoodoo Brothers (blues, rock and jazz), The HooDuo (acoustic driven duo playing classics, country, blues and Americana), and The Hot Toe Pickers (acoustic driven playing classics, country, and Americana).

Nic also fills in with other local groups frequently on guitar and bass.

A little about Nic Olas

Nic has been playing music since the age of 12, beginning his music journey on the trumpet and picking up the guitar when he was 14, and over 40 years later he is still doing what he loves! Originally from St. Louis, MO, Nic has played in a wide variety of groups over the years including rock, blues, country, roots, pop, punk, contemporary and jazz.

Nic has a long resume of performing in clubs in St. Louis and now in the Topeka and Kansas City area. He has been in bands that have opened for groups such as Foghat, Billy Peek, and Glen Kaiser. He also was honored to play at a celebration for local St Louis music legend, Bob Kuban with a band called Nonstop Rock at the famous Casa Loma Ballroom in St. Louis. Mr. Kuban even sat in with the band and performed his classic hit, “The Cheater”.

More recently, Nic has perfromed at the International Blues Challenge (IBC) hosted by the Kansas City Blues Society and held at Knuckleheads Garage in Kansas City. In 2022 and 2023 he performed with The Hoodoo Brothers. Four of the songs from 2024 were original songs. Those four songs, and a new, fifth original, was recorded and pressed to CD. This 5 song EP, called, “EP” was released in June 2023 prior to the event. In 2024 Nic performed again but this time in the solo/duo act portion of the IBC with his friend Kenny Retzlaff.

Nic also has also recorded other music. In 2003 he was in a band called “Inner Flame” and they recorded a CD called “The Bottom Line”. Nic wrote the song “Roll Away The Stone” and “Used To Have The Blues” on that album. He has also produced his own works of original music, “Infinite Journey” in 2014 was an instrumental loop/live/electronic album that is on his radar to be remixed/remastered. 2019 saw his release “Build Me A Bridge” and 2020 his single “Young Again”. In 2022, he compiled an album of classic rock songs, all done instrumentally, that is only available here on this website. And, as mentioned, he performed on and produced “EP” for the Hoodoo Brothers which was released in 2023. Nic is currently putting together a new album with a date TBD.

If you are interested in learning more or booking Nic or one of his groups, please contact him HERE