Nick Zamora is funny, smart, and warm. He’s also one of the best drummers in the South. 

Nick is best known for his work as drummer for The Suffers, the beloved Gulf Coast soul band that has earned international acclaim like this praise from NPR’s Bob Boilen: “I've witnessed The Suffers' magnificence on a tiny stage in a D.C. nightclub, on a big stage at the Newport Folk Festival, and behind my Tiny Desk.[…] What helps set The Suffers apart from most is the band's sweet style of playing: No one is vying to show off, and everyone serves the song.” 

With The Suffers, Nick has performed throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, as well as on Late Night with David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. The band has also recorded a Tiny Desk Concert for NPR, and has collaborated with the Houston Symphony, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Bun B, and Paul Wall. 

Friends know Nick as a hometown kid with deep Bayou City roots. Raised in Houston, he moved away to study jazz performance for a year at the University of Texas at Austin, before shifting into the humanities department. He graduated with a B.A. in psychology, but he never stopped playing. He went on to study drums with Steve Misamore, Tim Solook, and Jim Chapin, and study bass with Dave Nichols. While The Suffers may be his flagship project, he’s also played with numerous other artists throughout Texas and Colorado. Today, 30 years of performing, writing, touring, and recording later, Nick is a professional musician whose bonafides make up a trove of experience he’s determined to share with anyone who wants to learn.

At Bojangles, Nick teaches percussion and bass to students of all ages and skill levels. He’s happy to coach students prepping to audition for high school and college music programs, and he’s comfortable creating jazz, rock, latin, electronic, hiphop, funk, soul, punk, ska, reggae, dancehall, country, blues, and more.

“I want my students to gain a sense that the things they want for themselves are possible,” Nick says. “I never approached my own musical education as a means to becoming a professional or even mastering the instrument. I just wanted to play, I didn’t have an intention beyond that. My teachers taught me how to do that but also snuck in all these other lessons that would prove invaluable years later when I somehow found myself in a full-blown music career. My goal is to be supportive in making the most of their fun hobby, building their tools to get into a school or a job, or just being a source of specialized knowledge and unique perspective I’ve gained from really being out there drumming for so long. As their aim changes, I want to be there to help make it happen.”