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Graham Nicholson

Chapters
Karaoke
Music
Gallery
Contribute

A long line of Graham Nicholson's guitars stood against a wall outdoors — Telecasters, Stratocasters and paisley-finish guitars among them.

The archive

Gallery

Every photograph on this site, in one place.

A sleeping infant wrapped in a blanket, a family photograph from around 1940.

Graham at his eighth-grade graduation, in cap and gown at home.

A black-and-white portrait of a young man in a jacket and tie, late 1950s.

Graham dressed for a fast-draw competition: cowboy hat, red shirt and a holstered revolver, in the snow.

Black and white photograph of a young man in a striped waistcoat playing an archtop electric guitar in a living room, rifles mounted on the wall behind him.

Studio portrait of a young Graham Nicholson in grey military-academy full dress, braided frogging and ball buttons, a star at the breast.

A young man in military-academy uniform standing beside a red convertible on a wooded drive.

Hand-coloured studio portrait of three young men in grey military academy uniforms and white trousers with two archtop guitars and a drum kit, behind a gold bandstand painted with a treble clef.

Album page: two guitarists in matching grey shirts and dark ties on a low stage, one with an orange archtop, handwritten caption reading What did you say?

Two young men in military academy uniforms under a marquee, one leaning over a white pedal steel guitar, a tartan bag and amplifier at their feet.

Black and white photograph of six young men in military academy uniforms playing a function room: two guitars, drums, piano and upright bass.

A four-piece band playing a small hall dressed with holiday streamers: blond Fender bass, drums, a singer in a red shirt, and a guitarist with a dark solidbody.

A young man in a mustard waistcoat and tie playing a white offset-body Fender guitar beneath a New Year banner, a Fender amplifier behind him.

Graham in State Police uniform, kneeling beside his son Angus, who wears a police uniform of his own.

Graham Nicholson in Plainville Police Department uniform beside cruiser 26, holding a puppy.

Graham beside Plainville cruiser 26 with a shotgun, giving a thumbs up.

A police-officer cushion printed with Graham's face.

A black-and-white photograph of a wooden cabin cruiser underway on calm water.

A man in whites aboard a small boat raising a bugle to his lips, moored boats behind him.

Four men in black shirts and white flared trousers posed against a fieldstone wall.

Five-piece band on stage in matching GOOD FORTUNE t-shirts and white trousers under festoon lights, one player holding a cherry-red Gibson ES-335.

Graham on his motorcycle at Wolf Creek Pass.

Graham home from a cross-country ride, on his Harley-Davidson.

A large multi-deck riverboat tour vessel flying flags, underway on open water.

Graham Nicholson, bearded and in a dark suit, holding an engraved salesman-of-the-year plaque from his Kyocera years.

Graham in a pale blue T-shirt, relaxed on a sofa.

The black Airstream trailer lettered MOBILE RECORDING STUDIO parked beside a hut signed STAR STRUCK STUDIOS, a swing carousel turning behind it at Lake Compounce.

The Star Struck Studios shopfront at Lake Compounce, signed PHOTO ON A MAGAZINE COVER, with the Airstream behind it and a red neoclassic roadster parked in front.

Star Struck Studios at Lake Compounce — Graham Nicholson's video and karaoke booth, a white building beneath a wooden roller coaster, with signs reading "Star in a video, your photo on a magazine cover" and "Elvis Presley Gifts" and an Elvis statue by the door.

A country band playing outdoors among trees beside water in August 1985: pedal steel, Yamaha keyboard, drums and two guitars.

A bearded guitarist dressed in white playing a black Stratocaster on a small stage with red damask wallpaper, a pedal steel guitar to his left and a French tricolour flag on a stand.

Two guitarists on a damask-papered stage, one singing in a pink shirt with a black-guard Stratocaster, the other on a white Stratocaster, drummer behind and audience in the foreground.

Graham Nicholson singing at a tent gig with his pink paisley Telecaster on a tooled leather strap stamped with his name.

A black Cadillac hearse lettered AMERICAS 1ST with a gold star, an inflatable Starstruck Karaoke Club banner on the roof and a figure in a skull mask and top hat beside a Halloween costume-party sign.

A photograph of a screen showing archival video: a bearded man in sunglasses at an outdoor event, DVD player controls visible along the bottom of the frame.

The STARSTRUCK RESTAURANT roadside sign, with two people standing beneath it.

The Star Struck karaoke restaurant lit in neon at night.

A group of patrons gathered at the bar inside Starstruck.

A newspaper clipping headlined about the fastest pool stick in the world, reporting a record-breaking trick shot made at Starstruck.

The long red exterior of the Cadillac Ranch Restaurant in Southington by day, with its parking lot in front.

The Cadillac Ranch Restaurant at night, its name in red neon along the roofline.

Couples line dancing on the Cadillac Ranch floor beneath American flags and stage lighting.

Three people behind the Cadillac Ranch bar, one of them holding a bulldog.

Mike Ditka at the Cadillac Ranch Restaurant.

Graham Nicholson in full captain's dress blues: double-breasted jacket with four gold stripes at each cuff and a white peaked cap with eagle and fouled anchor.

Graham and Bonnie Nicholson in the wheelhouse, both in white crew shirts with epaulettes, Graham in a captain's peaked cap.

Graham in captain's whites aboard.

The charter motor yacht alongside a floating dock: white hull with a red boot stripe, flybridge under a cream bimini.

Graham Nicholson in captain's whites with epaulettes, aboard with three charter guests, open water behind them.

A white flybridge motor yacht underway with passengers aboard.

Sunset seen from the water: an orange and red sky over a low treeline, the colour running back across the chop.

A blue and white Sea-Doo Switch pontoon boat on a trailer.

A group in blue Wishes on Wheels shirts at the Cadillac Ranch bar, one of them holding a framed appreciation award.

A rider on a white Harley-Davidson trike in front of a large American flag.

Graham Nicholson standing in the dining room of the Cadillac Ranch Restaurant beneath a Coors neon sign.

A pink paisley Fender Telecaster lying on a folding table with its tooled leather strap coiled beside it.

Graham Nicholson seated at the bar of the Cadillac Ranch Restaurant in headphones, playing a pink paisley Telecaster.

Graham Nicholson playing his pink paisley Telecaster and singing on stage at the Cadillac Ranch

A long line of Graham Nicholson's guitars stood against a wall outdoors — Telecasters, Stratocasters and paisley-finish guitars among them.

Two paisley-finish Fender Telecasters standing side by side, one pink, one blue.

Graham Nicholson at Cadillac Ranch holding the Southington Regional Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Business and Community Achievement Awards honoree sign, flanked by two people.

Graham at a waterfront table, in a We The People shirt.

Graham Nicholson

Empty orchestra. Eight chapters, one man, sixty years of Connecticut.

The life

Music
The Badge
Kyoto
The Elvis Airstream

Starstruck
The Cadillac Ranch Restaurant
The Charter Years
Still Playing

The record

The karaoke claim
Gallery
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© 2026 the Nicholson family. Photographs and recordings reproduced by permission.

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