Interview: Danielle Nicole

Interview: Danielle Nicole 

The Love You Bleed, Grammy Nominee, Multi Blues Music Award-Winner, Vocalist, Songwriter and Bassist. 

By Martine Ehrenclou

The recipient of seven Blues Music Awards and a Grammy nomination, Danielle Nicole became the first woman to win the BMA for Best Instrumentalist (bass.) A powerhouse vocalist and songwriter, Danielle hails from Kansas City, MO and embarked on her solo career with her 2015 album Wolf Den and 2018’s Cry No More, which was nominated for a Grammy in the contemporary blues category.

Nicole’s new effort The Love You Bleed, out on Forty Below Records, boasts 12 tracks of hip shaking and soulful tracks about love, loss and perseverance. Produced by Tony Braunagel (Taj Mahal, Eric Burdon, Robert Cray) and co-produced by Danielle Nicole, it features her on bass guitar and vocals, Brandon Miller on guitars, pedal steel, mandolin, Damon Parker on keyboards, Go-Go Ray on drums and Stevie Blacke on violin and cello.

Rock & Blues Muse
Your new album The Love You Bleed is outstanding.

Danielle Nicole
Thank you so much. Brandon and I wrote a lot of really great songs together, and this is definitely the most honest record, and it’s coming from a good positive place too. It just has such a great energy surrounding it. And obviously Go-Go and Brandon are two of the greatest musicians on the planet.

Rock & Blues Muse
What’s different about The Love You Bleed from your past releases?

Danielle
Everything about the process was completely different. Sonically speaking, we recorded this album to tape, which I’ve always done digital. To be able to record it to tape is a completely different process because you have to nail the whole song as a performance, and there’s not room for much freedom of artistic expression. I get into live mode, but as a bass player, it’s got to be consistent. The bass line has to be what I played on the first verse. But it also captures the warmth of the recording and energy in the studio.

Rock & Blues Muse
So, that means you sing and play bass at the same time?

Danielle
Yes. I’ve always done that honestly. I use my tracking vocals a lot of the time because I’m just so used to playing and singing. And Tony (Braunagel) noticed that about me when we were working with him on the first Trampled Underfoot record. I didn’t really think it was that big of a deal. He was like, “No, we don’t usually do that, but these are actually good enough to keep.”

Another thing that sets this record apart from my other releases is that the musicians that you hear on the record are the musicians that I tour with. While I’m still very honored to have worked with the musicians that I’ve worked with in the past, the legendary Mike Finnegan, and even having Tony on drums and the session players like Stanton Moore and everything, there’s a different vibe when you get to use the band that you’re used to playing with.

It’s very representative of my career, my sound and of my life right now. That adds a whole ‘nother facet to this as the dichotomy between my previous recordings and this one. And to me, there’s a lot more love songs too on it. (Laughter) Happy love songs.

Rock & Blues Muse
(Laughter) I noticed that. Happy love songs and also overcoming adversity love songs. That was a theme throughout your whole album. Did you have that intention when you were writing the tracks?

Danielle
When I’m writing, it’s really representative of what’s going on in my life. There’s just a lot more positivity in my life and my music right now. I had written a lot of these songs pre COVID, pre losing my brother–

Rock & Blues Muse
I’m so sorry for your loss.

Danielle
I appreciate that. Thank you. I was actively falling into the most wonderful relationship I’ve ever been in. And we went through hell and back to come together and I was just writing what came to me. Our love just inspires focusing more on the positive things in life and helping people. It’s really cool to be in this place.

Rock & Blues Muse
That’s a beautiful thing. I think I heard about this album from Tony Braunagel a few years ago. Did you start recording this then?

Danielle
Yeah, we started, we did our first session, it was well after the shutdown and everything. I’d had a couple of people in the industry reach out to me and one of them was like, “Book some studio time and we’ll do it.”  I booked Tony’s ticket and I booked the Airbnb, booked the studio in Kansas City. Two weeks before the recording they pulled out. I was left with this choice of what to do. So I went ahead and went through with this. I went through with the recording and ended up paying for everybody to come in and do it.

Rock & Blues Muse
The musicians all pulled out?

Danielle
Yeah, Tony and the musicians. Tony flew in from LA to Kansas City to produce and I recorded it in my hometown, which I really wanted to do. We call it KCAF, Kansas City as fuck. (Laughter)

Rock & Blues Muse
(Laughter)

Danielle
I was like, “I’m going to do this.” I’m tired of not being able to rely on industry people. Really, it was just a testament to my resolve to get this album done. It took me a long time to figure out where I wanted it to be released through. After we had recorded it, then Kris got sick and we didn’t know what was going to happen, and then we found out how serious it was. Everything just stopped and was put on hold, of course. Between not having a job for two years and then losing my brother to cancer, there was a huge gap of releasing it.

I decided that every album I make from now on, I’m going to own it and I’m going to own my masters and I’m going to license it because I want my music to go to my children, not somebody else’s label or family. You know what I mean?

Rock & Blues Muse
Yes. It’s so empowering.

Danielle
I had to say no to a couple of pretty well-known labels and one really well-known label. And Tony introduced me to Eric Corne of 40 Below Records. And Eric, he’s not a regular label guy. It was really refreshing. He really wants his artists to win and be successful. He was so ‘pro’ me owning my stuff. It’s so rare that you meet somebody in that part of the industry that you really feel gets it.

I am one of millions of musicians that have just had horrid, horrid luck with labels and managers and booking agents and all this. I’m one of many, many, many, and I realize that. It’s extra special for me to recognize how great of a position I’m in right now. And it’s because of the crew and the teamwork that we have, and Tony and Eric and my publicist Pati, and my band, my husband. It’s good to be in a fucking good place. I got to tell you that. (Laughter) Sorry for all the curses. (Laughter)

Rock & Blues Muse
(Laughter) I don’t care. Congratulations. That sounds like a huge step forward.

Danielle
It is. And you know how hard all of us musicians work. Most of us don’t have a hit. Most of us don’t have a huge label backing with unlimited funds. Ninety-nine percent of us don’t, and you guys, all of you, especially the work that you put into championing live music, especially the blues, does not go unnoticed. You know exactly what these musicians have to go through.

Rock & Blues Muse
Thanks. I sure do. There’s so many great songs on your album. A couple of them just hit me. “Head Down Low” is so moving. Can tell me about that?

Danielle
“Head Down Low,” it was a song that I wrote that ended up being about the (music) industry.

Rock & Blues Muse
Is that the snake? (laughter)

Danielle
(Laughter) Yes. The snake is the industry. But it was also a little part of about my dad’s life in the imagery that came through. My dad headed west to run after this girl when he had a young love a long time ago. When I was writing ‘Head Down Low,’ It was kind of a mix between some of the events that happened in my dad’s life and the industry.

Rock & Blues Muse
I’m curious, do you write songs on your bass? Do you start with melody? Do you write on guitar? How does it work?

Danielle
It really depends on how the song comes to be. Like the bass line, if a song comes to me as a specific bass line, like “Love On My Brain,” I wrote the groove first. I was just chugging this bass line along in my head for quite a while. It was a real moody song in that way because it’s also minor. I just kept going and it just was swaying back and forth. And then that’s when the lines “love on my brain” started coming to me.

Watch “Love On My Brain” Here

Rock & Blues Muse
Did you start playing bass a long time ago or did you start singing first?

Danielle
I started singing first. I’ve been singing for a very long time. I started professionally singing in my early teens, and I didn’t start playing bass until Trampled Underfoot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trampled_Under_Foot_(band) was formed. I learned bass to keep it a family blues band, and I just fell in love with it. And when we disbanded, I didn’t even think about hiring another bass player. (Laughter) I was like, I love this too much. I’m not letting anybody else do this. (Laughter)

Rock & Blues Muse
So, is it all about the groove with the bass?

Danielle
Oh yeah. It really is. And that’s what I love about it. The song is what matters, the story of the song. We’re a story band, and our songs are primarily focused on the lyrics of the song. I have to write and perform in a way that uplifts that song and respects the story of it. The bass lines are always grooves, and it also gives room for Go-Go and Brandon to express their artistry and uplift them and give them the space that they need to work together as well as the drummer and guitar.

Rock & Blues Muse
I’m curious about what it’s like to be a female bass player with mostly male bass players in the world. I think it’s 11.2% of bass players are female.

Danielle
Man, it’s up to that now. That’s awesome. I really didn’t even think it was that much, so I’m happy to hear that number. (Laughter)

Rock & Blues Muse
What’s it been like?

Danielle
I’ve been pretty welcomed in. I’ve gotten the occasional side eye and I’ve heard the occasional, “Oh, here we go.” But once I get up there and get a few bars in, it’s pretty evident that I’m not going to put myself in a position where I don’t know what I’m doing on stage. I respect my instrument. As a male-dominated field, I think guys pretty much dig it when girls play dude’s instruments, what’s traditionally known as a dude’s instrument.

Rock & Blues Muse
The male musicians or fans seem to have the utmost respect for you as a bass player.

Danielle
That does mean a lot. I’m not so much of a feminist where I don’t appreciate a man’s opinion. I want to be related to, and I want people to resonate with what I’m playing. I want them to connect. So, in a dude’s industry I think you have to have a thick skin and not take it so much to heart. I’ve worked very hard at my instrument and I think that when I get up and play, it is felt and it’s heard. And I am thankful that I’ve gotten to a point where I can connect with everybody. When you’re listening to the band, I’ve heard before, “I didn’t even realize you were playing bass because I just assumed there was a bass player up there.” I never take offense to that. That is a compliment to me. Because it means that I’m doing my job exactly the way I need to. (Laughter)

Rock & Blues Muse
You have a gorgeous singing voice and quite a range. I appreciate the lower tones as well as your upper range.

Danielle
My two top vocalists growing up were definitely Aretha Franklin and Etta James. And between the two of them, they covered all of the spectrums. When I was developing my voice, and it wasn’t like a conscious thing, but I think that just listening to two completely different singers so much, and Stevie Wonder as well. I just gravitated towards these wonderful singers growing up. My mom had a really low range and was able to hit some good highs on the alto too.

Rock & Blues Muse
What’s coming up for you?

Danielle
In just a couple of weeks we’re getting ready to leave for the legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise, that’s the greatest of all time as far as the cruises go, the GOAT. We have a festival in Panama a couple weeks after. And then in March we’re going down to Curaçao for that festival. In April we kick off a huge Northeast tour for the album release. And then in May, we’re going to Europe, and in June we’re heading out west and July’s back to Europe. August is the Pacific Northwest.

Rock & Blues Muse
Is there anything else you want to include?

Danielle
I just want to include all of my gratitude for the music fans that come out and support the musicians and that buy our CD’s, even though they don’t have a CD player in their car and who buy the tickets, even though they know they’re not going to make it (to the shows), just to help the artists get more sales. The fans, they’re really the unsung heroes of keeping live original music alive. And especially America’s foundation of music, which is blues. The blues and the roots fans, they’re a special group of people.

For more information on Danielle Nicole’s new album The Love You Bleed see her website