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.
Jackpot
Nikki Lane Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It was always you
I was looking for sevens, they were coming in twos
I was on a bad streak and honey, it was getting me down
Down to my last dime with no good news
I was getting pretty tired of singing the blues
My luck was running dry, was about to leave this town
I'll give it one more try
Put a quarter in the slot
Could it be a jackpot?
Viva Las Vegas
Atlantic City rendezvous
Weekend in Reno late night casino
I'll go anywhere with you
I should have seen it coming
You were always there
Standing in the corner with a warm, dark stare
I had to move a little closer so I could get a better look
You said, "come on, little darling, we should have our share
Let's try to roll the dice and run away somewhere"
Didn't have to say another word
No, that was all it took
I said, "let's go all in"
I'll give it all I've got
Put a quarter in the slot
There it is: jackpot
Nikki Lane's "Jackpot" is a song where the singer finds happiness after falling into a string of bad luck, both in her financial and love life. The song starts with the singer finally hitting the jackpot, but it isn't with money, it's with love. The lyrics "I was on a bad streak and honey, it was getting me down, Down to my last dime with no good news, I was getting pretty tired of singing the blues" suggest that the singer was going through a tough phase in her life. She was hoping for a big win that would change everything, but it was never about money, it was always about finding true love.
The song then talks about different gambling destinations like "Viva Las Vegas, Atlantic City rendezvous, Weekend in Reno late-night casino." However, the singer realizes that the real jackpot is the person who has been standing in the corner with a warm, dark stare. The lyrics "I should have seen it coming, You were always there, Standing in the corner with a warm, dark stare, I had to move a little closer so I could get a better look" imply that love was right in front of her, but she was too busy looking for it in all the wrong places. The song ends with the singer taking a chance and tries her luck one last time, this time with the one she has been looking for all along.
Overall, "Jackpot" is a song about the search for true love and realizing that it doesn't always come in the form of money. It's a story of redemption, where the singer finally hits the jackpot with the one who was always meant to be.
Line by Line Meaning
Jackpot! I hit the number
Nikki Lane finally found what she has been looking for.
It was always you
It was the person she was with all along that she was hoping to find.
I was looking for sevens, they were coming in twos
She was searching for a miracle but finding very little success.
I was on a bad streak and honey, it was getting me down
She was going through a rough patch and it was putting her in a negative state of mind.
Down to my last dime with no good news
She had very little left and was losing hope with her situation.
I was getting pretty tired of singing the blues
She was tired of being unhappy.
My luck was running dry, was about to leave this town
She was losing hope and ready to start fresh somewhere else.
I'll give it one more try
She decided to search for a miracle one last time.
I'll give it one last shot
She was determined to try one more time.
Put a quarter in the slot
She took a chance with what little she had left.
Could it be a jackpot?
She was hopeful that something good was going to happen.
Viva Las Vegas
She was ready to gamble in Las Vegas.
Atlantic City rendezvous
She was ready to gamble in Atlantic City.
Weekend in Reno late night casino
She was ready to gamble in Reno.
I'll go anywhere with you
She was dedicated to the person she was with.
I should have seen it coming
Nikki Lane didn't realize the answer was right in front of her.
You were always there
The right answer was present the entire time.
Standing in the corner with a warm, dark stare
The right answer was there, willing to accept her.
I had to move a little closer so I could get a better look
She had to get closer to see what was in front of her.
You said, "come on, little darling, we should have our share
The person she was with told her to take a chance.
Let's try to roll the dice and run away somewhere"
They were going to take a chance and hope for the best.
Didn't have to say another word
They both knew what the other was thinking without having to say anything else.
No, that was all it took
All it took was finding the person she was with to turn her luck.
I said, "let's go all in"
Nikki Lane was ready to fully commit to their plan.
There it is: jackpot
The gamble payed off and they found what they were looking for.
Writer(s): Nikki Lane
Contributed by Audrey O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Tristan Heck
just showed this to my cute gf... glad she likes it too :3
she says this sounds like a random amazon comment.
now she is laughing cause i am still typing.
i really like her laughter.
"this is too intense emotionally"
i guess i am cute too?
Al Acton
Her voice and style is what country is and should always b
Erica Cooper
Love this song! Great lyrics and video
Jean Chen
I am so blown away! Absolutely love it.
James
Criminally underrated
Bill Bill
Love your music, Nikki!
Sinner Train
I love her latest album so much I've starting on her previous releases. What a voice and the songs are great too.
Rambl3On
This song is so good! I hope more people find it
Alfemur Phelps
I love this version. On my hoop rotation for sure!!
Daniel Tessari
Nikki is fantastic!
Alfemur Phelps
I'm on a Nikki video binge! Great music and these make you smile videos are so fun!!!