Guitarist Jimmy Nalls ain't no stranger to the world of music. His first-ever solo album, titled "Ain't No Stranger," features some of his close friends and recording buddies during his years of playing music.

Friends like Chuck Leavell, Jack Pearson, Lee Roy Parnell, T. Graham Brown, Mike Henderson, Wayne Jackson, Charlie Hayward and more contribute to Jimmy Nalls' debut solo release. Recorded in Nashville and produced by Phil Dillon and Jimmy Nalls, the album, "doesn't sound like a Nashville album," says Nalls. "It almost feels like we went back to Macon to make this record."

Jimmy Nalls spent a lot of time in Macon, Georgia, once the hotbed of the Southern Rock musical movement. In addition to the bands he worked with out of Macon, he also recorded on numerous albums including those by Gregg Allman, Bonnie Bramlett, Percy Sledge and Bobby Whitlock, to name a few.

After living and working in New York for about a year, Nalls hooked up with singer Alex Taylor (older brother of James) and a kick-ass band that featured Chuck Leavell, Charlie Hayward, Lou Mullinex and for a time, Paul Hornsby. The band toured with Taylor in support of his two Capricorn releases "With Friends & Neighbors" and "Dinnertime." For about eight months in 1972, that same band went on the road to back Dr. John during his "Right Place, Wrong Time" period. "Working with Mac (Rebennack, aka Dr. John) was like going to school," says Nalls. "We all learned so much from that guy in such a short amount of time."

In the mid '70s, after gigging around New York and his home area of Washington DC, Nalls got a call from Chuck Leavell who was now a member of The Allman Brothers Band. He reunited with Leavell at an ABB soundcheck, and the beginnings of what would become Sea Level started to simmer. Several months later, Chuck, bassist Lamar Williams and drummer Jai Johanny "Jaimoe" Johanson left The Allman Brothers Band to start their own band. Chuck called Jimmy to see if he would play guitar.

Sea Level recorded five albums, four for Capricorn Records and one for Arista. Dissolving in 1981, Chuck joined the Rolling Stones, Jaimoe returned to The Allman Brothers Band, and Lamar's health continued to deteriorate. He died of cancer several years later.

Jimmy Nalls headed up his own band for a time and continued with his session work. After a short 30-date Sea Level reunion tour, he re-connected with Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul & Mary) touring Europe, Australia and the States. It was Stookey who gave Nalls his first recording session on "The Wedding Song" album back in the early '70s.

After a short stint touring with country singer B.J. Thomas, Nalls moved to Nashville in 1986, working with singer Charley McClain. Two years later he joined the legendary blues band The Nighthawks as lead guitarist along with former Wet Willie front-man Jimmy Hall, and for more than two years, "we were the band from hell," says Nalls. "That band was dangerous. We toured Japan and Europe several times during that time. It seemed that all we did was travel, but it sure was fun."

Opting for more of a home life, Nalls quit the Nighthawks and accepted a more normal touring life working with country-soul singer T. Graham Brown. For four years, Nalls played guitar behind Brown's soulful country songs, recording with Brown on the album "You Can't Take It With You."

In the fall of 1995 Nalls learned he was suffering from Parkinson's disease. "At first I didn't tell anybody about the Parkinson's," he admits. "It was such a shock to me and to my family. I wasn't sure what was going to happen or how the disease would progress."

Moving at his own pace, Nalls turned down various opportunities to tour or do sessions. He did work on the Blues Co-Op project in 1997 and also produced Rick Moore & Mr. Lucky's first album, which was released last year. Both projects are on the MRL label.

Work on his own album project began in late 1998 and proved to be strenuous at times. Recording for MRL Records, the pressure to deliver an album by a certain date did not exist, but the pressure to deliver a quality album did. Nalls and co-producer Phil Dillon worked at a pace that was comfortable, not frantic.

The result is "Ain't No Stranger," a 14-song recording that runs the gamut from rock 'n' roll to blues to New Orleans funk to a touch of swamp music. Nalls wrote or co-wrote six of the songs and selected choice material such as Jackie Avery's "The Voo Doo In You" (first recorded by Johnny Jenkins in 1970), the Clyde Otis/ Nancy Lee classic "The Stroll," and Willie Dixon's "Mellow Down Easy."

Bluebloods guitarist Mike Henderson adds his distinctive slide guitar to "Good Luck, Money & Gasoline," while Chuck Leavell plays piano on two songs, "Down In New Orleans" and the title track "I Ain't No Stranger To The Blues." Lee Roy Parnell and T. Graham Brown team up as guest vocalists on "Hey Brother" with Lee Roy adding his trademark slide guitar to the track. Current Allman Brothers Band guitarist Jack Pearson plays on "It's Mighty Crazy" and "In The Time It Takes To Cry," and Wayne Jackson of The Memphis Horns adds his sound to three tracks, "Another Love Like Mine," "The Stroll" and "Hey Brother."

"This album has been a long time coming," says Jimmy Nalls. "If it hadn't been for my illness, it probably never would have been made. I'd still be out on the road guitar slinging for somebody. It's funny how things work out."