Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

To be nomadic

John told me I was playing them way better than him

John Fogerty told Nathan Collins his sax solos are better than Forgerty’s originals. - Image by Bob Fogerty
John Fogerty told Nathan Collins his sax solos are better than Forgerty’s originals.

Local jazz fans remember saxophonist Nathan Collins from his high school days as a member of Gilbert Castellanos’ Young Lions movement, before he left for USC. Collins had every intention of furthering his jazz studies, but he switched majors last year, opting instead for a degree in popular music performance.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“I think you get a more global view than the jazz department offers,” says the 21-year-old Collins, who is looking to graduate next year. “I switched because I felt more at home in a pop, r&b horn section type vibe.”

The results have been palpable.

“Almost immediately, I started getting these incredible opportunities. I did three gigs with Solange Knowles, playing at two big festivals, plus a show at the Hollywood Bowl. Gigs all over the Sunset Strip. Then one of my professors recommended me for this tour with John Fogerty.”

Since May, Collins has been on the road with Fogerty and ZZ Top’s “Blues and Bayous Tour,” already logging in more than 20 shows across the U.S. “I’ve had to learn to be nomadic. It took me a minute to adjust to living on a bus, waking up in a different city for another show in another state, going three days on, then getting a day off. I had to acclimate myself to that.

“In the beginning, I was terrified. [ZZ Top bassist] Dusty Hill came off the stage, introduced himself, and said I was going to be great. That really put me at ease, even though I was kind of star-struck by him.”

He’s enjoying the performances more now. “Onstage, I get to do a couple of saxophone solos during our set. At first, I was very nervous, trying to do them exactly as they were on the record, John Fogerty actually played the solos himself, but John told me I was playing them way better than him, and that allowed me to have fun with it. He seems to dig what I’m doing.”

The Fogerty band includes drum session ace Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, Jon Bon Jovi) and bassist James LoMenzo (Megadeth, Snakepit) and Collins is determined to absorb as much information from them as possible.

“I’ve learned a lot about tour life and music in general. They could have chosen to shine me on as a 21-year-old kid, but everyone has been cool about giving me pointers on how to survive.”

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Use San Diego crosswalks at your own peril

But new state law clearing nearby parking might backfire
Next Article

Bringing Order to the Christmas Chaos

There is a sense of grandeur in Messiah that period performance mavens miss.
John Fogerty told Nathan Collins his sax solos are better than Forgerty’s originals. - Image by Bob Fogerty
John Fogerty told Nathan Collins his sax solos are better than Forgerty’s originals.

Local jazz fans remember saxophonist Nathan Collins from his high school days as a member of Gilbert Castellanos’ Young Lions movement, before he left for USC. Collins had every intention of furthering his jazz studies, but he switched majors last year, opting instead for a degree in popular music performance.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“I think you get a more global view than the jazz department offers,” says the 21-year-old Collins, who is looking to graduate next year. “I switched because I felt more at home in a pop, r&b horn section type vibe.”

The results have been palpable.

“Almost immediately, I started getting these incredible opportunities. I did three gigs with Solange Knowles, playing at two big festivals, plus a show at the Hollywood Bowl. Gigs all over the Sunset Strip. Then one of my professors recommended me for this tour with John Fogerty.”

Since May, Collins has been on the road with Fogerty and ZZ Top’s “Blues and Bayous Tour,” already logging in more than 20 shows across the U.S. “I’ve had to learn to be nomadic. It took me a minute to adjust to living on a bus, waking up in a different city for another show in another state, going three days on, then getting a day off. I had to acclimate myself to that.

“In the beginning, I was terrified. [ZZ Top bassist] Dusty Hill came off the stage, introduced himself, and said I was going to be great. That really put me at ease, even though I was kind of star-struck by him.”

He’s enjoying the performances more now. “Onstage, I get to do a couple of saxophone solos during our set. At first, I was very nervous, trying to do them exactly as they were on the record, John Fogerty actually played the solos himself, but John told me I was playing them way better than him, and that allowed me to have fun with it. He seems to dig what I’m doing.”

The Fogerty band includes drum session ace Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp, Jon Bon Jovi) and bassist James LoMenzo (Megadeth, Snakepit) and Collins is determined to absorb as much information from them as possible.

“I’ve learned a lot about tour life and music in general. They could have chosen to shine me on as a 21-year-old kid, but everyone has been cool about giving me pointers on how to survive.”

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Brian Ellis says no to sampling for Campus Christy collab

“Someone 30 years from now could sample it, knowing it’s purely original”
Next Article

Bringing Order to the Christmas Chaos

There is a sense of grandeur in Messiah that period performance mavens miss.
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader