Nikki Hill: roots rock n’ roll revival

As I sat on the phone interviewing roots rock & roll rising star Nikki Hill, I thought back to the first time that I saw her perform live. I’ve heard good things about Hill and when she finally took the stage, she didn’t disappoint. Her talent is raw, her sound is distinctive, and her vocals are impressive. The North Carolina native began singing in church at the age of six and never considered a career in the music industry. Nonetheless, in 2011 she began touring and has been doing so, nearly non-stop, ever since. In 2012 Hill released her debut album, a self-titled EP, that was both a pleasant surprise and a breath of fresh air for the roots rock genre.

Hill, who describes her sound as “The Staples Singers meet AC/DC,” released her first full-length album Here’s Nikki Hill in April of 2013. Following the success of both albums, Hill welcomed the opportunity to work with rockabilly singer-songwriter Deke Dickerson and soul-jazz band The Bo-Keys to record Soul Meets Country, a four-song EP released in late 2013. Although Hill is still new on the scene and coming into her own musically, she is already making a heavy impact and is poised to revive the roots rock genre.

Jade Newton: What motivated you to pursue a career in music? 

Nikki Hill: I was never the child that dreamed of being a star but I’ve always been a huge music nerd. It was a very recent thing, so it’s all still pretty new to me. I started singing at home with Matt [my husband] and he said, “You have a sound that I think other people would want to hear.” I got a lot of encouragement from him, my friends, and family and the more people encouraged me, the more I thought, “Okay, maybe I can make this a career.” It’s something that I am very passionate about, I can make money doing something I love and I am with my best friend the whole time.

JN: At what point did The Pirate Crew come into play as your backing band?

NH: In 2011 and 2012, I was doing a lot of duo shows with Matt and we didn’t have a band element going yet, so we were working with different musicians who wanted to try different musical stuff with us. Then once we started getting requests to tour and do more travel dates, it encouraged me to get a solid group together. I got more serious about it and it didn’t take a lot of time to find the right people. Joe Meyer is our drummer, Ed Strohsal is our bass player, and my husband Matt plays the guitar – so I got lucky, thankfully. Those guys were there when I needed them.

JN: You’re a fan of all genres of music, but what was it about rock and roll that drew you to that specific genre?

NH: My parents were big soul and funk fans, so I grew up listening to a lot of rock, funk, soul, and R&B. Like most southern kids, I grew up singing gospel in church, and southern Baptist singing is a great introduction to showbiz. [Laughs] It’s very energetic and you’re singing about heartfelt things that people can relate to, and rock and roll is almost the same thing. With my music, I wanted a definitive sound so that when people came to shows they would recognize it.

JN: Let’s talk about your most recent project, Here’s Nikki Hill. It is a mix of original music and covers. If you had to choose one favorite song on the album, which one would it be?

NH: Hmmm… that is a tough question. “Gotta Find My Baby” is a cool track and as far as covers go, it was definitely my favorite. As for the original stuff, I would have to say “Ask Yourself” is my favorite tune that I’ve written so far.

JN: Where you draw your musical inspiration from? 

NH: I definitely draw a lot of my influences from the raw, high-energy artists from the 50s ,60s, and 70s because musically, it was an inspiring time. A lot of the music was just a response to many of the crazy, social issues that were going on and at the same time people were creating party music that was so new.

JN: What’s next for you, when the tour is over?

NH: This year is filling up on the tour end, so we are going to stay on the road and for as many places that we hit last year, there are still many more places to hit. We want to stay in the people’s eye and party with as many people as we can.