Conrad Reeder (1954) (also known as Connie Reeder Nichols) is an American singer, songwriter, writer and college professor. She was married to the late producer and recording engineer Roger Nichols for over thirty years.

Music career

She was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, United States. Reeder sang for fifteen years with

John Denver Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31, 1943 – October 12, 1997), known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, activist, and humanitarian whose greatest commercial success was as a solo singe ...

in live concerts, on television and recordings including

Dreamland Express ''Dreamland Express'' is the 18th studio album by American singer-songwriter John Denver released in June 1985. The singles from this album were "Dreamland Express" and "Don't Close Your Eyes, Tonight". Track listing Side One # "Dreamland Expr ...

and It's About Time. She sang live duets with Denver as well as performing as a

background singer A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

and stayed in contact with Denver's mother after he died in a plane crash. She also co-wrote the Denver song "Thanks to You." Reeder is credited as a writer or co-writer on all tracks of her husband's release, ''The Roger Nichols Project''. She was signed to Motown's Morocco Records in the early 1980s, but the label folded before her first album was released. Reeder led her own band called Fugitive Blonde in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

the 1980s and 1990s, with an earlier Los Angeles version titled Big Blonde.

Writing career

She was a featured columnist and article writer at ''EQ Magazine'' in the 1990s, writing as C. Reeder. The column, ''The Demo Queen,'' often lampooned the trials involved in the process of recording

demo tape A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

s in quest of a record deal. Her writing sometimes takes a serious view of life and love, and a book, ''Memory Clouds: Good Grief Bad Grief'', is available on Amazon. Her plays have been staged in Florida and California (''Graffiti'').

Education

Reeder graduated in 2008 from the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a member of the University of Louisiana System and the Urban 13 association. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High rese ...

with a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

degree in Creative Writing/

Playwrighting A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. Her thesis, ''Jack is ~~Dead~~'', was inspired by Denver's accidental death. She has taught as an adjunct professor at Palm Beach State College in Florida. Reeder is currently a Doctoral candidate at

Pacifica Graduate Institute Pacifica Graduate Institute is a private for-profit graduate school with two campuses near Santa Barbara, California. The institute offers masters and doctoral degrees in the fields of clinical psychology, counseling, mythological studies, dep ...

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

, and is also a lecturing professor at the Maui campus of the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

References

External links

Blog and website for Conrad Reeder.C. Reeder Nichols ''On the Beach: Poems and Vignettes''
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Conrad Reeder aka Connie Reeder Nichols accepts a Special Merit Grammy Award on behalf of her husband Roger Nichols.Conrad Reeder and Pam Wolfe's website for their musical ''Venus The Love Show''.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reeder, Conrad Living people 1954 births Musicians from Columbus, Ohio Musicians from California