I’ve never met Nicole Atkins in person, but if the play-it-cool attitude she takes toward her music and interviews is any indication, she just might go far in this business.
At one point during my phone interview, I hear chewing, but she quickly offers up information about what I’m hearing — she’s eating “green eggs and ham” that she describes as “pretty bangin'”at a Texas IHOP. Moments later, she asks me to “hold on a second, I just drooled on my phone.” A few white-noise-like scrapes and she’s back on the line.
That same nonchalant, fun demeanor is exactly what’s drawing people to her music — a pop-ish rock that takes some cues from the ’50s. The former Charlotte resident will return to play two nights at Snug Harbor — she was worried that all her friends won’t fit in to see her at the small Plaza Midwood venue.
“We figured that we know so many people there, we’d have to do two nights,” she says. “We have so many bands that are our friends — we can’t even have them all play in two nights. I talk to Charlotte people more than I talk to anybody. We were just there for a friend’s wedding.”
All of the traveling has been taking its toll. She’s been fighting bronchitis recently and dealing with a polyp on her vocal chords. “I’ve always had (the polyp), but (bronchitis) made it worse to sing on,” Atkins says. “It’s getting better now, thankfully. I’m taking really good care of it. I’m hoping they’ll only allow smoking outside at Snug Harbor. It really won’t work if they don’t.”
Atkins lived in the Queen City while attending college at UNCC from 1996 to 2001. She then moved to New York City, but returned in the winter of 2004 to escape the weather.
“It was a change of scenery for the winter and I wanted to work on some songs,” she says. “I didn’t want to pay a shitload of money to live, and Charlotte’s pretty good for that. Justin Faircloth and The Houston Brothers were opening up their studio so I painted the walls in exchange for time.”
She got back to the Big Apple in time to get a band together, record songs and garner the attention of various labels. “It was a really good summer,” Atkins says of all the pieces falling into place.
It’s no surprise she loves the Charlotte area and it’s evident she still has ties here by reading the liner notes of her debut CD, Neptune City. The New Jersey native remembers her friends — thanks are given to locals The Houston Brothers and Scott Weaver, among others, and there’s an album introduction by Seth Avett.
“I just figured that he was one of my friends — we’ve always been really supportive of each other from when we all started going for this crazy thing,” Atkins says of Avett. “I just figured he was the best person to write the liner notes.”
It’s not just her friends that she lives without. While Atkins says she misses the days of finding a new dress at Plaza Midwood’s Boris and Natasha and the local music scene (she names Snagglepuss, Babyshaker and The Houstons), the first item she longs for when asked about what she misses the most comes out of her mouth at 100 miles per hour — “fried pickles!”
Since the release of Neptune City, she’s had a steady touring schedule, yet has also found plenty of time to appear on television. She’s been in an American Express commercial and performed on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Late Night with Conan O’Brien. She also performed with Feist on Letterman as part of the background chorus.
“Her manager and mine are friendly — all those people that did it are all really sweet people,” Atkins says. “It was a really fun day. It was almost like summer camp.”
She played at South By Southwest last week and will be performing at Bonnaroo this summer. With all of the attention being put on her in various media, it’s no surprise that Rolling Stone named her an “artist to watch” back in 2006.
“I’m one of those people who’s a constant worrier, so I never think that it’s true,” Atkins says. “I pay attention to more of that in hindsight. (When I read Rolling Stone), I almost cried — it was really awesome. It happens and you don’t know what to think.”
While items like that may increase the expectations of others, Atkins tries to let any pressure on her roll off her back. She just wants to write songs that are better than the last ones she wrote, adding that she feels less self-conscious about her songwriting these days.
When asked what she learned from her time in Charlotte that she still takes with her on the road these days, the answer is simple: “Don’t drink everyday.” After a quick laugh, she adds, “Work on your songs. Don’t think you’re anybody you’re not. Let your work speak for you.”
Nicole Atkins and the Sea and The Parlor Mob will perform at Snug Harbor on March 20 (also The Houstons) and 21 (also Secondhand Stories). Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 on the day of the show.
This article appears in Mar 19-25, 2008.
