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<\/p>\nDanielle Nicole makes music informed by the blues yet not constrained by it. She cut her teeth as a bassist, singer and performer while a member of Trampled Under Foot, a trio featuring her brothers Nick and Kris Schnebelen on guitar and drums respectively. Nicole notes that she and her siblings \u201ccame from a musical family through our parents and our grandparents.\u201d The group released a succession of well-received albums; their sixth, 2013\u2019s Badlands<\/i> looked to be a breakthrough, thanks in part to a distribution arrangement with Concord Records.<\/p>\n
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They bought the rights to it for ten years,\u201d Nicole says. But not long after that album\u2019s release, she and her brothers decided to break up the band. \u201cConcord offered to keep me on as a solo artist,\u201d she explains. By 2015 she would release a self-titled EP and a full-length album, Wolf Den<\/i>. The pair of releases are representative of a transitional period in Nicole\u2019s musical career.<\/p>\n
While asserting that both records remain fair expressions of her musical journey thus far, Nicole acknowledges the transitional character of those releases. \u201cI had written about half of [Wolf Den<\/i>] when I was still with Trampled Under Foot,\u201d she explains. \u201cSo it had \u2018the TUF sound,\u2019 as I called it.\u201d But she emphasizes that the record displayed her efforts to branch out and \u201ckind of start to find my sound.\u201d<\/p>\n
By 2018, Nicole seemed to have discovered that sound. Released that year, Cry No More<\/i> is a varied and fully-realized album that draws from a wide array of influences. While she says that the record wasn\u2019t created with a specific goal of moving away from traditional blues, Nicole freely admits that her second long player is \u201ca lot more soul-driven.\u201d<\/p>\n
The influence of Stax and Muscle Shoals are felt throughout Cry No More<\/i>\u2019s 11 songs. \u201cAs a songwriter, you always want to learn,\u201d Nicole says. \u201cYou always want to expand your palette.\u201d She credits the album\u2019s producer, Tony Braunagel, who also played drums on the record, for helping to conjure the soul vibe. \u201cWhen the songs started coming together, and we got into the studio, I was like, \u2018Wow, this is kind of taking on a life of its own,\u2019\u201d Nicole recalls.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not as if Nicole had been raised on a steady diet of nuthin\u2019-but-the-blues; her parents exposed her and her brothers to a wide range of styles. \u201cWe listened to everything<\/i>,\u201d she enthuses. \u201cMy dad had a really great record collection, so I got to listen to Aretha Franklin and Etta James, but then we also had Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and the Everly Brothers.\u201d<\/p>\n
So as she developed her own musical identity, the idea of finding a lane and staying within it never really occurred to Nicole. Growing up with an appreciation for many styles meant that \u201cI could take a lot of those influences and put them into my<\/i> music,\u201d she says. \u201cIn the music world, people want to label you. They want to fit you in this cookie cutter: \u2018Blues is round and rock is square.\u2019\u201d She laughs and notes elliptically that her music is filled with \u201call these triangles and stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicole explains that she found herself in the role of singing bassist almost by default. \u201cWhen my brothers and I first decided to play music together, Nick and Chris already played their instruments well,\u201d she says. \u201cWe didn’t have a bass player.\u201d So she offered a suggestion to her siblings. \u201cWe could just keep it a trio, and I’ll just start working on bass.\u201d A left-handed player who took naturally to the instrument, Nicole says that the biggest challenge she faces with regard to the bass is gear. \u201cThey just don\u2019t make as many left-handed basses,\u201d she observes. \u201cSo it\u2019s harder to find the good quality ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her solo career to date, Danielle Nicole has had no difficulty finding quality musicians with whom to work. Cry No More<\/i> features an array of guest stars, including Luther Dickinson, Sonny Landreth, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Walter Trout. But her strong musical vision and force of personality means that even among those stars, Nicole easily holds her own, never getting overwhelmed or overshadowed.<\/p>\n
Her early years woodshedding in Trampled Under Foot doubtless helped her learn important lessons that she can apply today. \u201cAt the end of the day,\u201d Nicole observes, \u201cpeople are putting butts in the seats to hear my songs and to see the band work\u2026 together<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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