I was born and raised in Durham. At times I’ve lived in Mebane, Chapel Hill, Burlington, Raleigh, Apex and Greensboro, too. I was raised by my mom and two sisters – they are a bit older than me, so it was like having three mamas. At times, we lived in places where we all shared a bed. But, no matter how hard things were, they took great care of me.
Once I hit middle school, I started listening to more music, saving money to get CDs, attempting to figure out what I was into. My parents are kids of the ’70s, so I heard a lot of soul, R&B, funk and old rock ‘n’ roll growing up. I would also follow whatever my sisters were into – I remember hearing stuff like Salt N Pepa, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, whatever was on ‘Soul Train.’ … And then I started spending a lot of time at the record stores and just discovering things that were new to me. I found an old turntable, so when I had a few bucks, I would buy [albums] and check them out. I was listening to a lot of house music and hip-hop, and then started finding all this punk and old rock ‘n’ roll. I became really drawn to punk rock and [classic] rock, because of the energy and attitude, and then it started to influence my style; I found other people in the area who were into the same thing, so that quickly became a big part of my life.
Music was a huge solace for me. I just loved listening to music and watching performances. I grew up seeing John Dee Holeman at the Bull Durham Blues Festival. When I was old enough to have a friend with a car, we would go to see live shows – I spent most of my time going to Cat’s Cradle, Local 506 (where I worked for awhile), and venues in Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Asheville. I was able to see some amazing local music from bands like Carolina Chocolate Drops, Flat Duo Jets, George Clinton and P-Funk, Southern Culture on the Skids, Doc Watson, Snatches of Pink, and friends of mine that all had and still have great bands in the area.
Once I started going to live shows and meeting local musicians – basically immersing myself in that for a long time – it became the norm for me. Maybe it just felt like the natural thing to do in many ways. I definitely heard records that made me want to play guitar or bass or piano, but I honestly never heard someone [sing] and say, ‘OK, I have to sing.’ I never thought I was good enough. But then, with the music I loved, I knew it was more about being you and expressing that. It actually took me getting on stage and singing to give me the realization. Of course being new to it, I was full of doubt and anxiety, but the music was so much more important than my doubt. And the second the band kicks into a song, that all disappears. I live for that moment. More importantly, I look back and realize during that time, I never quit. I could have quit at any moment because it wasn’t something anyone was expecting from me. All the insane things you go through to even get onto the stage … if you don’t want to pursue it, it’s way too stressful to bother. There just hit a point where I couldn’t turn around and see myself doing anything else; it doesn’t matter how much work or pressure is put on me, I just want to keep going. And once I saw that what I was doing was inspiring other people, especially women who are looking at this male-dominated profession and wondering how we fit in, I was even more encouraged. Seriously, if you want something bad enough, that just becomes what you do.”
Get your tickets now for Festival for the Eno – Nikki performs July 4 at the 37th annual celebration benefiting the Eno River Association.
