My name is Nico Wayne Toussaint. I was born on august 1973 in Toulon , France and I play harmonica since the age of 18. I ran into the blues when I was 15, through the Muddy Waters' record "Hard Again" featuring James Cotton on harp. Since then, the wildness high energy and raw sound of James Cotton have been my musical credo.

Vent du Sud (Southern Wind) is the name of my first band founded when I was 20 with my father on piano. For three years, the two of us plus some other musicians added to the band over the years, toured all around the south west of France from bars to campings and from campings to festivals. In 1996 I go on my own with a band under my own name Nico and Friends , doing straight Chicago Blues, as my father goes on with his own Cajun band.

My middle name, Wayne , comes from my American godfather, Wayne Ready, former resident of Minneapolis , Minnesota . From1992 on, I have maintained an almost annual relation with the United States since my first trip there. One of the most significant stay that i did was in 1996-1997 when i got a position as French Teaching Assistant in Carleton College , Minnesota . On each one of those visits to the US , I spent a lot of time watching and listening to blues concerts, between Minneapolis , New Orleans and Chicago . Also on many occasions, i got to sit in with great musicians such as Jimmy Johnson, R.J. Mischo, Billy Branch, Luther Allison, Eddy C. Campbell, Cash Mc Call, Willy Kent to name a few. It happened to me at a young age, an age where those experiences have great impact on my musical education. In 1997, I record in Minneapolis my first cd C'est si Bon backed up by local musicians.