Daniel Nickels Music

Call it fate or manifestation, but Americana singer-songwriter Daniel Nickels just knew he was going to record at Dark Horse Recording Studios in Franklin, TN. He passed through there in 2008 on tour before going solo, and instantly felt a connection with the facility and its producers.

In the ensuing years, Nickels would reinvent himself through his music and emerge with a sensibility that mines the perfect balance of pop-rock hooks with Southern roots music. When it came time to find a producer for this new sound, Dark Horse Studios’s own Grammy Award-winning producer Dave Hagen (Keb’ Mo’, Carrie Underwood, and Reba McEntire) became Nickels’s first choice. Their collaboration can be heard on Nickels’s forthcoming roots-y and reflective three-song EP, Drive Us Home.

“The big change here from my previous albums is that I wasn’t all in,” the Southern Oregon-based artist says. “I always knew deep down that making music was my purpose. Over the past two years, I finally decided to hold nothing back. I have become comfortable in my skin, and I now know what my true journey is.”

Nickels’s latest music invites comparisons to Zac Brown, Jason Isbell, and Tom Petty. It features Hagen not only as a producer, but also as a co-writer. Together Nickels and Hagen have achieved an artistic high watermark. These are Nickels’s strongest songs, and the recordings showcase the broad span of his vocal range from soulful low tones to gorgeous falsetto singing. The recordings also boast telepathic roots-rock interplay courtesy of contributions from Nashville heavyweight musicians, and Nickels’s own live band, featuring drummer Tony Kilcollins and bassist Marc Tramonte.

Hallmarks of Nickels’s songwriting include broadly resonant and insightful lyrics, well-crafted pop hooks, and emotive vocals. Nickels studied songwriting and musicianship under Dr. John Clark who also coached Tim Pagnotta, Tess Erskine, Crosby Loggins, and Katy Perry. His authentic flair for soul, blues, and Southern rock date back to his years living in Georgia and North Carolina. Previously, Nickels was the frontman of Leeward Fate, the first rock band to come out of St. Kitts in the Caribbean. That band released three albums, two singles, and toured throughout the U.S.

Since 2016, Nickels has been a solo artist and he’s released three albums, two EP's and six singles. His song, "Long White Robe,” was nominated for best video at the Carolina Music Awards. Nickels has played over 1,200 shows nationwide—including many festival appearances, charity benefits, and rock n’r roll marathon performances —and he’s participated in over 200 radio events and interviews, including live broadcasts at KOBI, WRAL, and KPSU. Most recently, Nickels has opened up for Clint Black, Mitchell Tenpenny, Kelsea Ballerini, and Carvin Jones.

New single Annabelle features Nickels’s soulfully melodic vocals in an alt-country setting nuanced with pedal steel and organ. The song’s narrative recounts a relatable tale of co-worker frustration. “I wrote ‘Annabelle’ when I was a manager for a surgery center, and one of my employees was really indecisive about working for me and the company. I started to imagine what it was like to be her boyfriend,” Nickels reveals. The song’s imagined romance unfolds with country poetics. He sings: I’m only as good as I am with you/You turn my mind into a question mark/I can’t shake how you drink me up/And pour me out of this paper cup. Nickels is the sole writer of “Annabelle,” though Dave Hagen co-produced and mixed the song. “Annabelle” was tracked at Brokenworks studio in Ashland OR with Nickels’s live band augmented by Hammond organist Phil Madeira (The Civil Wars, Alison Krauss, Garth Brooks) and pedal steel player Sammy Kovic.