Nicole Atkins Plays Sun Studio, Warming Her 'Southern Heart' -- Road Report

Posted on Mar 9th 2011 11:00AM by Nicole Atkins
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Lucia Holm

Nicole Atkins is currently on tour in support of her sophomore album, 'Mondo Amore,' backed by a collective of musicians known as the Black Sea. Four years after the release of her debut record, 'Neptune City,' the 32-year-old singer-songwriter is back to showcase her unique blend of rootsy-folk and indie rock, exemplified by her latest single, 'Vultures.'

In her latest Road Report, Atkins talks about hitting the home stretch of her tour. She made stops in the Midwest, spending her free time bowling and making t-shirts, and also headed south to play the legendary Sun Studio and the Ryman Auditorium. Find out what she has to say about her "southern heart" and more after the jump.

We are now in the home stretch. Just five more days and we get to spend a luxurious four days at home before going to get physically slaughtered by South By Southwest. Although it will be fun, I'm sure our livers and vocal cords will file for divorce.

So much has happened in just a week. We've been to Detroit, which was a fun gig at the Magic Stick. I bowled my personal best that night, beating our sound guy with a towering score of 92. We also got to run into a few of our musical friends from the D, Shara from My Brightest Diamond, Jackson Smith and Matthew from Outrageous Cherry (thanks for all the albums!). We also met crazy Mary from the Detroit Cobras who took great joy in heckling me during our set. It made it a lot more fun. Radio promo the next day at 7 a.m. was a little rough, needless to say, but even though this tour has been a bit grueling with radio every day and shows every night, with few breaks, I'm feeling very grateful for every day I get to wake up and do my work.

Courtesy of Nicole Atkins

We played some small but packed shows in St. Paul and Madison. Michael from Cotton Jones has been singing with me on 'War is Hell,' which is such a treat every night. I really need to figure out a way we can have some backup singers to get the harmonies going in the future. It's so important. The venue in Madison had some table hockey games in the dressing room. I don't know if they were broken or we are useless because it took about 15 minutes for anyone to score the first goal.

Courtesy of Nicole Atkins

Chicago was a blast. Our family friend Dave hooked us up with a much needed quality meal and a nice place to sleep. Irina and I got some good rest. The boys, not so much. I've never seen a more sad sight than the three of them hungover the next morning after going out with Dave. Dave also printed some t-shirts that have the same tattoos as Senior's (the guy on my album cover) chest. I'm gonna save them for our hometown friends. Perhaps we can use them for softball t-shirts this summer in Neptune. The Chicago show was packed and some girl had me draw a picture on her ukelele. She was very sweet. I tried to play her the song from 'The Jerk' on it and failed miserably.

Courtesy of Nicole Atkins

Last night we played a set at the legendary Sun Studio in Memphis for the PBS show 'Live from Sun Studios.' It was a dream come true. That place has so much amazing vibe. Even the tiles on the floor are still original. You can see the mark on the floor left by Elvis's upright bass player. Irina impressed the shit out of me playing 'Hucklebuck' by Earl Hooker. I'm realizing that along with Jack White and Dan Auerbach, Irina is one of the most original modern blues guitarists, and I am so grateful to have her in the band. We ate BBQ, played a set, and then hung out with the sound guy and crew talking music. A memorable night, impacted, too, by the fact that I love the South. I have a southern heart. Always have, and am thinking that I might need to move back here someday soon.

Courtesy of Nicole Atkins

We are on our way to Nashville now. It's our first time headlining a show there. Last time we were there we opened for the Avett Brothers at the Ryman. Looking forward to seeing some old friends and family tonight. After that it's a mad dash to Washington D.C., where before the show we are celebrating the passing of the Low Power FM bill that I lobbied for a couple years ago! Then Philadelphia and Hoboken. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed for a few days, yet at the same time I'm not. This was one of the busiest and funnest tours I've ever done. I'll miss listening to Cotton Jones every night.

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