Singer-Songwriter Nicole Atkins Shows Off Vocal Power on New Album

Singer-songwriter Nicole Atkins digs deep on her seventh studio album, Drama, exploring universal themes about loneliness and self-care that everyone can relate to. The New Jersey-born, Nashville-based singer-songwriter left a lasting impression with her fully formed 2007 debut, Neptune City, and courted critical acclaim with 2020’s Italian Ice.

In this recent Zoom call from her Nashville home, where she was working on T-shirt designs for her current tour, she talks about the new record and the upcoming tour in support of it.

It’s been six years since you dropped a new studio full-length. Talk about what the time period has been like.
It did take a really long time, but I feel like it was necessary. I went through a period of making a lot of money during the pandemic and having someone mismanage my money, and I lost it all. So I decided to manage myself, and I booked a residency for the band to keep playing.

What was that like?
The first one was the day that [writer-director] David Lynch died. His movies and the music he put in his movies was always such a big part of my sound. [Singer-songwriter] Chris Isaak took me on my first tour, and he has been my friend since 2007, and he moved to Nashville at about the same time that I did. We are friends, but we write together and make art projects together. I remember him telling me that it takes one song. [His hit] “Wicked Game” was out for three years [before it became a hit]. The label didn’t want to make a video. He was begging them, but they said it was too slow. And then, David Lynch called and said he wanted to put the song in his movie. He put it in his movie, and the label gave Chris money for his video. I invited him to come and see us. I knew he would be struggling because David Lynch was gone. That was his friend who helped him. We themed it be a [Lynch] tribute. I thought it would make him feel better. He came every week. On the last night, he was having so much fun. He said, “I should sign you to Sun Records.” I was like, “What?” I wanted Pat Sansone (Wilco, the Autumn Defense, Robyn Hitchcock) to produce it, but he was away touring and didn’t have time to do. It took almost a year to get the deal done. It was annoying. And then, Pat was free. Sometimes, you just have to be patient and then things work out.

What made you want to record this album live in four days?
That’s the only money we had to get a full band in the studio. Pat has a home studio, and he and I were able to go in there and look at the songs I had and see which ones worked and which ones didn’t and lay out the soundscape and arrangement ideas before we even went into the studio.

Have you worked with Pat in the past?
We’ve been friends since 2010. When my husband and I moved to Nashville, we wanted to move to a city where we didn’t know anyone, so we could make friends together, but I knew Pat and his partner, and we always liked the same kind of stuff. Davey Horne, who sings on “Curtain Call,” is my best friend from Scotland. I remember doing a tour with him over there and he was down. He delivers coal for a living and wanted to make it a record. He didn’t have the studio or gear. He was in Florida for a month with his family. They take this big yearly vacation. I said, “You can get away for three days. Give me the money back from the tour I did with you and I’ll see what I can pull together.” Pat was available and the guys from SherylCrow’s band were available. This was not the budgets they were used to, but the music was so fucking good. They heard it and knew that and said they would do it. We did four songs in one day and overdubs and strings the next. The next day, Pat came by and was singing. He has a sense of play that is so wonderful. Sometimes, when I can’t fight for myself, you need someone like that. He’s like my Mickey from Rocky. It was wonderful. You find your people.

“Trippin’ on Teardrops” sounds like a girl group song from decades ago. Talk about the inspiration for it.
I always had that chorus. All my song ideas come to me as melodies. I can sing in perfect pitch into my phone and figure it out later. I play guitar and piano, but I don’t write on them. My mind is on fire 24 hours a day because I have ADD. Sometimes, a melody with cut through. That was one of them. I was doing a different writing session with someone. I had “Trippin’ on Teardrops,” but it didn’t fit into that song. My friend [singer-songwriter] Peter [Morén] came over, and I played it for him. He thought it was awesome. I couldn’t figure out what to do in the verses. He gave me some chords, and they fit. With my sleep problems, I decided to write about what I know. I have made a habit of staying up late. I wanted to figure out what I could do to keep from crying all the time. I sent the scratch demo to Elvis Costello, who is the nicest guy ever who will listen to my demo and tell me what he thinks. He said it reminded him of “To Sir with Love” From Lulu. I said that was what I was going for. When I played it for Pat, he asked me if I have ever heard of Julie Driscoll. I said no. He played me some Julie Driscoll. I wanted an “I Only Have Eyes for You” intro/Lee Hazelwood hunting for surf bunnies. I wanted to create this visual musical world right off the bat. It didn’t exist but I wanted to make it exist. You gotta make it yourself sometime.

What was it like to sing “Cue the Symphony” with Chris Isaak?
Great. He’s always like, “Come over. Let’s sit on my porch and write.” We always come up with a bunch of shit but don’t use any of it. One night on his porch, this storm rolls in and he was bitching about this artist who has way too much money. This artist has 24 trucks and lights. I [wrote about it] said, “Here we go.” It’s my favorite song I have ever written with him. It reminded me of early Chris Isaak and Roy Orbison. It’s that dream state ballad that is intensely sad and romantic and beautiful. It just happened to us.

“When the Night Falls” really shows off your vocal power. Talk about it.
That’s another song that came out in two seconds. I was constantly chasing the feeling of my first record when you put together your first songs. and never having made certain songs. I remember when I did the demos for Neptune City. I drank a lot back then. I would go into bars and say, “Put this on.” Before I found my sound, I was doing that with friends bands. I went to school with the Avett Brothers and did open mics with Regina Spector and Langhorne Slim. I could pull together a party and talk about you guys until the cows come home. But this was the first time it felt like me. I wanted that feeling again. I had these lyrics to this country song and they fit with this melody. I called my husband, and I told him that I got that feeling was excited again.

What made you want to start singing in the first place?
I just always did. My parents are party people. My family is not musicians or artists, but every stitch of our house it built to have a party. I would walk up before them. They would be sleeping and Tommy from the Who was on HBO every morning when I woke up. I remember so many things in detail from when I was little. Things I love then are the things I love now. Who I am as an artist is who I was from age 3 to 5. I memorized all of the words and music before I could even walk. I didn’t even learn how to read until I was 7. I was ADD and dyslexic. I could memorize songs. I remember hearing the overture and balling my eyes out. I still feel that way. When the band is in the van, I have two girls that are younger and we would do full album listening in the van. As soon as the intro comes on, I cry. It’s weird. I’m not an incredible singer or a proficient guitarist, but I have been artist my whole life. I watch MTV and think, “These are my people.”

Your debut is about to be 20 years old. Will you mark the occasion?
I lost every copy I had during Hurricane Sandy. I would like to re-record it because know how to do it now. There are some of the songs that are some of my favorite songs got left off because I didn’t know how to advocate for myself fully. That’s not a dis on [producer] Tore Johansson. I made the call to take them off the record. I’m working this record, but I want to re-record that one in the way I originally envisioned it and put that out for the anniversary. We could do the first set as Drama and the second one as Neptune City. My first record is something I will never get sick of singing. Those songs are my first love. I love all my records, but some are a little bit weird in places. You don’t hate them but you might not want to sleep with them again. They’re like old boyfriends.

How will these new songs mix with the old ones?
We’re going to play the album front to back. It will be played live as it is and we will sprinkle in the favorites. My best friend Colin from childhood has never given me a solid compliment. It’s not that he’s mean. But he took a walk on the Asbury Boardwalk with my record and ate a 15 milligram Gummy and had great headphones. He was live texting the whole time and said, “You have to play it from front-to-back.” His last text was “I’m sitting her crying on a bench.” I was like “Alright, let’s do it.” People will enjoy themselves at this show. I guarantee it. We’re the bastards of Americana. It’s un-genre-fiable music that gets put in there. We’re not Americana-enough for those fans, but I also don’t understand why they’re not sick of being bored. You won’t be bored at my show. If you are bored at my show, I will personally give you back your money. I will hate you for the rest of your life, but at least it will be honest.

Photo Credit: Barbara FG

Nicole Atkins TOUR 2026

OCTOBER
9 – Columbus, OH – Rumba Cafe
10 – Louisville, KY – Whirling Tiger
11 – Indianapolis, IN – HIFI

NOVEMBER
13 – Columbia, MO – Rose Music Hall
14 – Kansas City, MO – Record Bar
15 – Omaha, NE – Reverb Lounge
17 – St. Paul, MN – Turf Club
18 – Milwaukee, WI – Vivarium
20 – Grand Rapids, MI – Pyramid Scheme
21 – Ann Arbor, MI – Blind Pig
22 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland
24 – Albany NY – Lark Hall
25 – Hamden, CT – Space Ballroom
27 – Asbury Park, NJ – Wonder Bar
28 – Annapolis, MD – Rams Head
29 – Richmond, VA – Richmond Music Hall

DECEMBER
1 – Charlotte, NC – Snug Harbor
2 – Asheville, NC – Revival
3 – Nashville, TN – Skinny Dennis