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My friend and musical hero Nick Curran passed away after a three year battle with oral cancer Saturday. This is the second friend I've lost in the past week, so I'm ready for 2012 to be the fuck over. When I moved to Austin in 2007, I kept running into Nick at the weirdest places. I think he thought I was stalking him, but I had no clue who he was at that point, I just kept being in the same places. It was weird. I ran into him at two record stores, a gas station, Stubb's, and a video store(I Luv Video) before I'd even figured out who he was . A month after I got here I went to a Jimmie Vaughan(a friend) show and he brought Nick up on stage with him to play a couple of songs. I quickly realized that this is the guy I had heard him talk about before who had played with Kim Lenz in Dallas and then the Fabulous Thunderbirds!

As the universe was making clear, I would be running into him again at some point, so I introduced myself. Instant connection. We laughed about our many serendipitous meetings,and I told him I was a guitar player. Albeit I am nothing in comparison with him, but I invited him to come see me play an open mic in 2008 I was impressed to hear that he liked my songs and that he could really see them going somewhere. I shrugged it off because I believe that I suck, but thanked him anyway. The more I saw him play various gigs, the more I began to idolize him. He eventually became one of my musical heroes through his music, and a personal hero through his battle with cancer.

Through everything, he never lost the kindness, humility, and spark in his eyes. I got the chance to tell him exactly what he meant to me after a Children In Heat show last year when he had just recovered from his oral surgery. I told him he was a hero to me in the way that he dealt with life, and he pulled me close and said "I'm nobody's hero. I'm just a guy". You were wrong on that, Mr. Nick. You are everyone's hero.