One glorious day some years back, a teenage high school dropout Nikki Lane (nee Nicole Lane Frady) packed a trailer with her worldly possessions. With one hand firmly gripping a steering wheel and the other flipping the bird, she said so long to her home, Greenville, South Carolina, The South and any sort of life it had suggested she should live. Western bound, she was headed to Los Angeles for no other reason than just because.
Flash forward to today and we find Lane an empowered artist, having escaped any sweet and sour small town trappings for some serious see-my-name-in-lights grandeur and artistic fulfillment. Signed recently to the flourishing Los Angeles-based indie label, IAMSOUND Records, Lane's bold vocal chops and wildly infectious personality have been making a stir in circles spanning across country to rock to indie and back again. Working with producers David Cobb (Shooter Jennings, The Secret Sisters) and Lewis Pesacov of Fool's Gold, the first release of these efforts was the four-song EP, Gone, Gone, Gone, released July 19th and will be followed by the 11-track full length "Walk of Shame" out September 27th.
Throughout "Walk of Shame," Lane weaves in and out of ballads of heartache, one-night stands, leaving, lust and longing. She plays the rambler and sometimes drunkard with such an ardent aptitude she'd fit right in alongside classic country icons like Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton. On the title track she swears never again will she wake in a stranger's bed, "with a bass drum thumping in her head" as the music drives us out of that alien apartment and down the street into the break of dawn. In "Gone, Gone, Gone," while a blistering slide guitar cries on, she croons on the chorus her tale of leaving The South, promising, "And if I leave this town I'll be gone, gone, gone and I won't be back for far too long." Meanwhile, hitting a more delicate note, Lane shows off softer sentiments and solid song-writing skills on "Save You," crooning helplessly, "Well your bad habits they're all stacking up and it's plain to see you just can't get enough. And I'm trying to break through but I'm losing sight. Oh what can I do to make it all right? How can I save you from yourself?"
Sometimes the victim, sometimes the aggressor, always the Southern sweetheart, Lane rolls through song after song, belting out her earnest poetics with such warmth and tenderness to become entirely absorbed in this music is only natural. "They're all stories," she says. "That's the only way I know how to write. All my songs have a beginning middle and an end. I want to tell you what happened to this person and what the result was."
"You grow up in The South, you grow up in a small town, your expectations are a little bit limited," she continues. "People expect you to go to a four-year college, get married and follow that Southern way of life. I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do but I knew it wasn't being offered to me."
And so we return to her story: Lane settled in L.A. and without clear direction she worked various day-to-day jobs and dabbled in fashion, getting shoes manufactured in China and painting them to sell under the Nikki Lane moniker. Five years passed and she started writing music but forsook that path after just two promising shows for a corporate job offer across the country in New York City.
"I'd always wanted to live in New York and somehow ended up talking my way into a really well paying job," she says. "That was an opportunity I couldn't say no to. And so I moved and for a year didn't even touch music. It was like something I'd just tried once. I'd written a couple songs and that was the end of it."
But like any good country singer, heartbreak brought her back to music when her boyfriend left her to record an album in Atlanta. "I was like, fuck that," she says, "Why does he get to make a record in Atlanta while I'm sitting in New York crying? So I just sat down with a guitar, I didn't have anything going on, I didn't have many friends in the city that weren't his friends, it's freezing in New York and I'd quit my job, so basically for three months I holed up in this apartment and I just wrote."
She started learning Waylon Jennings, Loretta Lynn, John Prine and Merle Haggard tunes, the sort of classic country songs that have steeped her own writing now, trying her best to strum along and building her confidence along the way. "And all of a sudden it hit me and I started writing like crazy," she says, "I wrote a whole album in a month's time and just decided I was going to make a record in Nashville. It was like my revenge record."
Empowered, in February, 2009, Nikki went to Nashville, recorded an album she self-released titled No Room for Cowboys, and returned to New York a musician. That's essentially where IAMSOUND found her and signed her and set to build the material that would become "Walk of Shame." The album serves as a forceful farewell to The South, says Lane. "We sat down and wanted to write something about leaving a place and being like, you'll be fine, I'm not coming back."
And as if Lane's history wasn't enough evidence of her well-proven knack for leaving, on her arm rests a tattoo that reads, "Wanderlust calls again." "I feel like everyday I might be better off if I could get up and go," she says. "I've had a really hard time staying put because the different scenery is what's inspiring."
Lane now lives in Nashville where she also owns and operates a vintage boutique called High Class Hillbilly, selling pieces she has collected while touring the country.
Nikki Lane's "Walk of Shame" will be released on IAMSOUND September 27th, 2011.
Gone Gone Gone
Nikki Lane Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For something good to come my way
But there ain't no sign of my luck a'changing
Even though my dues are surely paid.
And if I leave this town I'll be gone gone gone
And I won't be back for far too long
No, I won't be found
Well today I found myself day dreaming
Thinking I'd like to be a pioneer
Maybe I'd head out west and find me something
Or maybe even disappear
And if I leave this town I'll be gone gone gone
And I won't be back for far too long
No, I won't be found,
No, I won't be found
Don't you worry, don't worry about it
You'll get through I'll tell you how
Write you a letter saying I'm doing fine
Promise I'll be back sometime
But I won't, I won't hang around
And if I leave this town I'll be gone gone gone
And I won't be back for far too long
No, I won't be found,
No, I won't be found,
No, I won't be found,
I don't wanna be found,
I don't wanna be found.
The song "Gone Gone Gone" by Nikki Lane captures the emotions of a person who has been stuck in a place for a long time and is yearning for something new. The first verse explains how the singer has been patiently waiting for good things to happen but nothing seems to be changing despite the effort she has invested. The idea of wanting to move on to new experiences is introduced in the following verse, where she fantasizes about becoming a pioneer and leaving the town behind. However, the fear of being found and having to come back stops her from taking the leap. The chorus acts as a reaffirmation of her decision to leave, emphasizing that she won't be found or come back for a long time.
The final verse adds a touch of melancholy, as the singer promises to write a letter and leave her loved ones with a sense of comfort, but ultimately decides to not hang around. The lyrics capture the insecurities and restlessness that many of us feel, highlighting the emotional toll that comes with the decision to leave the familiar and venture into the unknown.
Line by Line Meaning
Nineteen years I've been here waiting
I've been waiting for a positive change in my life for nineteen years.
For something good to come my way
I've been waiting for something positive to happen to me.
But there ain't no sign of my luck a'changing
Despite waiting for so long, there's no sign of my fortune changing for the better.
Even though my dues are surely paid.
Even though I've paid my dues and done everything I can, my luck hasn't changed.
And if I leave this town I'll be gone gone gone
If I leave this town, I will be gone for a long while.
And I won't be back for far too long
I will not return for a very long time.
No, I won't be found
I do not want to be found or tracked down.
I don't wanna be found
I am not interested in being found or tracked down.
Well today I found myself day dreaming
I was day dreaming today.
Thinking I'd like to be a pioneer
I was imagining being a pioneer and exploring new places.
Maybe I'd head out west and find me something
I considered leaving the town and exploring new places out West.
Or maybe even disappear
I was thinking about disappearing and starting a new life somewhere else.
Don't you worry, don't worry about it
Don't worry about me leaving.
You'll get through I'll tell you how
I will tell you how to get through this situation.
Write you a letter saying I'm doing fine
I will write a letter telling you that I am doing well.
Promise I'll be back sometime
I will promise to return at some point.
But I won't, I won't hang around
I will not stay around here for long.
No, I won't be found
I do not want to be found or tracked down.
No, I won't be found,
I do not want to be found or tracked down.
No, I won't be found,
I do not want to be found or tracked down.
I don't wanna be found,
I am not interested in being found or tracked down.
I don't wanna be found.
I do not want to be found or tracked down.
Writer(s): Nicole Lane Frady Copyright: BMG Platinum Songs, BMG Platinum Songs Us, Cannily Freeload
Contributed by Jack J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Nicholas Branney
I first heard this in a pub in Bristol where everybody was trashed. When this came on a large group of us started to spontaneously bob up and down, and when it finished we all went to the bar without mentioning it. It was very surreal. Great tune. It turns out a number of us bought the album the next day. Well done Nikki Lane.
Michael McKay
WOW, great voice . Will keep listening.
U.S. SAM
Her voice reminds me of Female Country singers of days of old,in a VERY good way !
John Bicking
World better listen or they will miss it. She’s lovely.
JJWood1958
I love the retro-country sound!
Nikki Lane
JJWood1958 I'm with you on that one 💛
Jenny- GrammyJ Gilmore
Very Loretta vibes!
FUNERAL BILL II
LOVE it when an artist makes the video look like something from the 60's/70's. This looks like it could have been on Hee-Haw!!
FableCry
Holy smokes, this is completely magical.
RemyDeLeMonde
Loving the neo-traditional country sound. Very good voice. Reminds me of Jenny Lewis, Johnathan Rice, and She & Him.