Aashid Himons

Aashid Himons, usually referred to as just "Aashid," has been a part of Nashville's non-country music scene for nearly a quarter-century. A big man with leonine dreadlocks and a large artistic presence, the African-American musical prodigy has asserted an incredible influence on Nashville musicians, working with some of the region's best and brightest talents along the way. Born in 1942 in rural West Virginia as Archie Himons, he began playing the piano at the age of three, soon singing and playing in church. By the time he was five years of age he had taught himself the drums and subsequently appeared on several radio and television shows, including The Today Show with Dave Garroway. He left home at 13, hitchhiking to New York City and later joining the army at the age of 17. After a brief and unremarkable tour of duty, Aashid settled into the Washington, D.C., music scene, forming the R&B group Little Archie & the Majestics. A number of bands and one-off single deals with fly-by-night indie labels would follow before Little Archie signed a deal with Nashville legend Buddy Killen's Dial label in 1962. The late '60s found Aashid wandering the country as a blues musician, playing coffeehouses and street corners. He landed in Toronto in 1969, forming a short-lived duo with actor/musician Jim Byrnes, and later traveled to Mexico City, where he played with a blues band. It was in Honduras in 1972 that Aashid witnessed a performance by Count Ossie & the Mystical Revelation of Rastafari that would forever change the direction of his music. Returning to Pittsburgh, Aashid would create the style of music that he called "blu-reggae," a hybrid of country blues, R&B, and reggae that was informed by Count Ossie's nyahbinghi rhythms and Rastafari philosophy. Performing blues in the...