Nikki Lane (born October 17, 1983) is an American country music singer-songwriter and artist. She has released four albums: ''Walk of Shame'', ''
All or Nothin''', ''
Highway Queen
''Highway Queen'' is the third studio album by American outlaw country singer Nikki Lane. It was released on February 17, 2017 on New West Records.
Background and recording
Lane's previous album ''All or Nothin' (Nikki Lane album), All or Noth ...
, and Denim & Diamonds''.
Early life and education
Lane was born in
Greenville, South Carolina
Greenville (; locally ) is a city in and the seat of Greenville County, South Carolina, United States. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 census, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. Greenville is located approximately halfway be ...
,
and dropped out of high school there. She then worked as a fashion designer for a time, before moving to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
in 2006 and later to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. After doing so, she broke up with a country musician, who left her to record an album in Alabama;
this experience inspired her to begin writing country music songs. Lane, who now lives in
Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
, also owns and operates a clothing store called "High Class Hillbilly".
Career
On September 27, 2011, Lane released her debut album, ''Walk of Shame'', on
Iamsound Records
Iamsound (stylized IAMSOUND; formerly Iamsound Records) is an American entertainment company based in Los Angeles and founded by Niki Roberton. Iamsound comprises a creative and marketing studio, visual artist management firm, and independent rec ...
.
She co-wrote 'Gone, Gone, Gone' with producer
Lewis Pesacov of
Fool's Gold
The mineral pyrite (), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral.
Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue giv ...
. Her second album, ''
All or Nothin'', was released on
New West Records
New West Records is a record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, and Athens, Georgia. It had offices in Burbank, California, and Beverly Hills, California. The label was established in 1998 by Cameron Strang "for artists who perform real music ...
on May 6, 2014.
It was produced by
Dan Auerbach
Daniel Quine Auerbach (; born May 14, 1979) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer, best known as the guitarist and vocalist of The Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio. As a member of the group, Auerbach has ...
of
the Black Keys
The Black Keys are an American rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio, in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). The duo began as an independent act, recording music in basements and self-producing their ...
,
[ whom she met at a flea market. Auerbach allowed Lane to record the album at his studio, Easy Eye Sound Studio, for free. Lane has said that working with Auerbach in the making of this album was very easy and natural for her.][ ''All or Nothin'' features a duet between Lane and Auerbach, "Love's on Fire".
In 2017, Lane recorded a duet with comedian and musician ]Ben Hoffman
Benjamin Isaac Hoffman (born December 13, 1974), is an American comedian, actor, writer, and musician. Hoffman is well known by his country musician alter ego Wheeler Walker, Jr., as whom he has released four albums of country music rife with pr ...
, better known by his raunchy country artist persona Wheeler Walker, Jr., for the song "Fuckin' Around" on his sophomore album '' Ol' Wheeler''. She is credited as "Kacey Walker".
Lane's album ''Highway Queen'' was released on February 17, 2017. It was recorded near Dallas, TX at The Echo Lab from February to June 2016 with Nikki's boyfriend Jonathan Tyler, as well as the other members of her current touring band. Two music videos were released ahead of the album's release; the title track, "Highway Queen", in which Nikki and friends crush cars with a monster truck, and Jackpot, in which Nikki and Jonathan Tyler successfully try their luck in old Sin City, ultimately resulting in a Vegas chapel wedding.
In another video released in August 2017 for the song Send The Sun, Nikki and the band play live on a vintage country television studio set and also perform a two-person dance routine.
Unfortunate circumstances struck Nikki's band around the time of recording ''Highway Queen'', when lead guitarist Alex Munos was sidelined by cancer and started receiving treatment in May 2016. He would later recover and return to the band around the time of ''Highway Queen''s release.
In July 2017 former drummer Ben Eyestone passed away from colon cancer. He had played drums on Nikki Lane's first two albums.
In 2021 Nikki co-wrote and performed "Breaking Up Slowly" on the Lana Del Rey
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, glamour, and melancholia, with frequent ...
album ''Chemtrails Over the Country Club
''Chemtrails over the Country Club'' is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Lana Del Rey. It was released on March 19, 2021, by Interscope and Polydor Records. After working with him on her previous studio album, '' Norma ...
''.
In 2022, she performs "Never Git Drunk No More" with Ken Casey
Kenneth William Casey Jr. (born April 15, 1969) is an American musician who is a bass guitarist, primary songwriter, and one of the lead singers of the Boston Celtic punk group the Dropkick Murphys. Casey was one of the original members, start ...
on the Dropkick Murphys
Dropkick Murphys are an American Celtic punk band formed in Quincy, Massachusetts in 1996. Singer and bassist Ken Casey has been the band's only constant member. Other current members include drummer Matt Kelly (1997– ), singer Al Barr (199 ...
album ''This Machine Still Kills Fascists
''This Machine Still Kills Fascists'' is the eleventh studio album by American band Dropkick Murphys and was released on September 30, 2022, on Dummy Luck Music. It marks the band's first studio album since ‘The Gang’s All Here’ to not feat ...
''. The album is based on never-used-before texts written by Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson Guthrie (; July 14, 1912 – October 3, 1967) was an American singer-songwriter, one of the most significant figures in American folk music. His work focused on themes of American socialism and anti-fascism. He has inspired ...
. In September of 2022, she released her fourth album entitled ''Denim and Diamonds'', which features Josh Homme from the band Queens of the Stone Age on guitar and drums. Homme also produced, mixed, and co-engineered the record.
Critical reception
Lane's sound has been compared to that of Wanda Jackson
Wanda LaVonne Jackson (born October 20, 1937) is an American singer and songwriter. Since the 1950s, she has recorded and released music in the genres of rock, country and gospel. She was among the first women to have a career in rock and roll, ...
,[ as well as the sound of ]Neko Case
Neko Richelle Case (; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and cri ...
's early albums.[ She has also been referred to as the First Lady of Outlaw Country.
]
''Walk of Shame''
A review of ''Walk of Shame'' in Exclaim!
''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
stated that Lane has "a petulant, ''Valley of the Dolls'' lyrical style" and praised her vocal delivery.[ Another review of this album was written by Mark Deming, who said that "Lane has confidence to spare and a voice that lives up to her own self-worth" and gave the album 3.5 out of 5 stars. Deming also said that Lane has yet to fully master the art of recording music in a studio.][
]
''All or Nothin''
According to review aggregator Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, ''All or Nothin'' has received generally favorable reviews from critics, with a score of 79 out of 100. Holly Gleason, writing in '' Paste'', awarded it a score of 8.5 out of 10 and said that the album's songs "read like Polaroids from a wild heart gone ragged". Gleason also praised Auerbach's production, which she called "savvy". Lane told ''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' that she was flattered at the positive reception this album had received from the press.
Discography
Studio albums
EPs
* ''Gone, Gone, Gone'' (2011)
Singles
* "Gone Gone Gone" (2012)
* "Right Time" (2014)
* "Highway Queen" (2016)
* "Jackpot" (2017)
* "Wait Till After Christmas" (feat. Joseph Bradshaw) (2017)
* "First High" (2022)
* "Black Widow" (2022)
* "Born Tough" (2022)
Awards and nominations
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Nikki
American women country singers
American country singer-songwriters
Country musicians from South Carolina
Musicians from Greenville, South Carolina
Living people
New West Records artists
1983 births
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women singers
Iamsound Records artists
Singer-songwriters from South Carolina