https://www.nicolechildrey.com/home daily 1.0 2019-01-07 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1545605894826-UE7Q6VS7KHM0JKD3477V/Nicole%2B5.jpg Home - Lockeland Springsteen: Local Honey While I was touring as the drummer/etc. with the Mynabirds, one of the finest music journalists in the country, Marissa R. Moss, did an interview with me for her excellent blog, Lockeland Springsteen. Read more at Lockeland Springsteen. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1546896685809-QF3AXM0K0RGEJ3PKRUHG/The+Blonde+Mule.jpeg Home - 10 Questions NOT To Ask A Social Media Manager Kim Baldwin of The Blonde Mule Media (a social media manager in Nashville that I admire greatly) pulled together this fun roundup, wherein I and a crew of other folks who do what we do got a little serious and got a little silly about social media FAQ. Read more at The Blonde Mule. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1546276405298-JUUMET9M62FEPD9JUJ9Y/lust+list.jpg Home - Nashville Scene: The Lust List I don’t think I’ll ever get over the fact that one of my writing heroes, Nashville Scene editor Jim Ridley, once interviewed me for a Scene cover story called “The Lust List,” focused on Nashvillians with lust-worthy qualities. I felt profoundly unworthy and also fantastically honored. My husband laughed, a lot. It’s still online, but a little weirded up, so the text below. Nicole Keiper Remember the coolly reserved brainiac in AP English—the one who was so quiet but wrote so fiercely, you were sure she nursed a secret life? And then you went to a house party, and there she was: rocking a floor tom in a noise band, an unruly strand of hair keeping time on her forehead? In high-school terms, that’s the essence of Nicole Keiper’s hotness. As The Tennessean’s pop critic and indie-beat reporter—who doubles as drummer for three local groups—the club crawler with the perpetually unfazed expression has aced the first rule of being cool: not caring about being cool. “I’m a big geek, but I don’t worry about it,” says Keiper, who brushes off claims of her hottitude with a shrug that of course makes her even hotter. As a Long Island teen, inspired by Stone Gossard—“I still love Pearl Jam,” she says, no matter what the Pitchfork police say—she picked up a guitar at age 14 and switched to drums at 18. The former CMJ editor moved to Nashville to be with her now-husband, guitarist Keith Childrey, and juiced 1100 Broadway’s once-moribund rock coverage with her sympathetic, refreshingly snark-free style. But it’s the combination of her laid-back poise and super-tight drumming—the hint of hidden passion—that makes pulses quicken. Especially if you’ve never stopped crushing on Mary Stuart Masterson in Some Kind of Wonderful. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1545605213127-WJVA0FUDMBCDMPBFYL10/East+Nashville+With+Love+Best+of+Nashville.jpg Home - Nashville Scene: Best of Nashville 2012 Each year, the Nashville Scene staff and Nashville voters pick the best stuff that exists/happened in our city over the past year. In 2011, I started a hyperlocal blog called East Nashville, With Love, focused on people and businesses in my neighborhood. I couldn’t have been more honored that the Scene chose my blog for a Best of Nashville writer’s pick for the 2012 issue. Sadly, the full issue doesn’t seem to be online anymore, but a snippet is pictured above. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1546490535073-IN9FRRIU2HVAT4D7P7M0/passes.jpg Home - On the flip side of things… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1545970416087-1OQ2CQAXWM0HDOYE9KZ3/tapes.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1545973615114-VKJW7FO6SO2RJBPKT1KT/passes.jpg Home https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1594172388995-AG7A7GQ1DWBUZ7IBY45N/bw%2Bnico.jpg Home https://www.nicolechildrey.com/about daily 0.75 2023-04-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1546482900327-TJVLBWNKV47XRBYW4GPQ/profile.jpg About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1545361209905-793QYSKN9YHQZVL1MU1L/nico.png About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1545338206732-R2B0DQPLNLDOA1HNO9HC/nico+oregon+by+Bliss+Katherine.JPG About Photo: Bliss Katherine https://www.nicolechildrey.com/contact daily 0.75 2018-12-19 https://www.nicolechildrey.com/clients daily 0.75 2023-04-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1545274473296-CE3QY5HJXI0N2ER01I1H/magazines.jpg Clients https://www.nicolechildrey.com/portfolio daily 0.75 2023-04-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1682629259774-S7MN4LJJUERANCJAGJIY/Mission+ad+Johnny+Paycheck.jpg My Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1682629258782-8QP47L1BG40MV4DMQTRC/Mission+ad+Brenda+Lee.jpg My Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1682629258707-QJE0ZQ6SBOX81RZN47IR/Mission+ad+Hank+Snow.jpg My Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1682630159433-4QUT9XGIIOCK4HWNCPQ8/Museum+Wedding+Print+ad.jpg My Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1682630159358-1RRPUKZW92ZMZ79F1A5Z/Museum+BritishAirwaysPrintAd.jpg My Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1682628187817-BMTIVCS4NZXO8N5873O3/Hatch%2BShow%2BPrint%2Bad.jpg My Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1682627918761-FHM5R787GUDWUG826ZVG/Hatch+Show+Print+Haley+Gallery+ad.jpg My Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1545250856431-4MPCW2RKPC1GP4ASBC1H/Paramore+for+SPIN.jpg My Work - PARAMORE IS A BAND I was honored to get the opportunity to paint a portrait of Paramore as a cohesive unit, rather than just spotlighting singer Hayley Williams, as was often the case. Not long after, the thrust of this piece turned out to be… a little awkward. (Unfamiliar? Google, and pity me.) For my part, I think she and they meant this headline to be the genuine case. Relationships are complicated, bandmate ones especially so. Photo by Viki Forshee. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1682632844502-IDD8RE8SJ9EX3218C7AA/Slide1.jpg My Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1682632844523-OP5S2M42KODX8ZBKM8EH/Slide2.jpg My Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1682632845144-JU2QUWVTGUXI9A16XD0N/Slide3.jpg My Work https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1545255076536-BYD9WU3YG4ZSEBAQAMIU/Miracle+Drug.jpg My Work - GREAT EXPECTATIONS Nashville is full of second- and third-generation musicians following in their forebears’ footsteps. I spoke with a bunch of young talents with famous pedigrees — including members of HotChelleRae, Amanda Sudano of Johnnyswim, and Caleb and Will Chapman of Colony House — about building a musical legacy all their own. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1546484904487-MQFEAMV2V5TWLKEYJFN0/Jack%2BWhite%2Bfor%2Bthe%2BNashville%2BScene.jpg My Work - DAMN THE ENORMODOMES Around 2011-2012, I started thinking about the idea of scarcity, and how in a music industry that’d been upended by abundance, creating scarcity was becoming a winning formula — be it creating limited-edition, high-design vinyl releases or hosting intimate house shows with limited tickets and almost unlimited access to the performer. This is what resulted: “According to guys like David Bazan, David Mead and Jack White, making a music career work in 2012 might be all about thinking small.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/ec22e497-ebf1-4b29-a184-13afd89a3a12/East+Side+comedy.jpg My Work - LAUGHING MATTERS It’s been heartwarming to watch Nashville’s comedy scene get the attention it’s long deserved. Back in 2014 for local magazine The East Nashvillian, I talked to some of the players helping a scrappy stand-up scene grow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/bcab6360-ea64-4262-af53-1c4a7afd97c3/MMB_AD_Heritage_Sponsor.jpg My Work - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1547436296750-2AQ81AQYF3ENLO9U401Y/Dead%2BWeather.jpg My Work - JACK WHITE DEBUTS NEW BAND DEAD WEATHER The very first event ever held at Third Man Records in Nashville, and I was lucky enough to be there, chronicling things for Rolling Stone. The Dead Weather was a force, and I feel pretty certain I’ll still be bragging about this in 2050. Photo by David Swanson. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1547225739740-Q10SV5LOLF99CYWQFNVJ/Pearl+Jam+CMJ.jpg My Work - RIOT GOIN’ ON I was 14 in 1991, when Pearl Jam released Ten. The band led me down my path, in a sense: I started reading about them, got introduced to Fugazi and Minor Threat and DIY shows, picked up instruments and an interest in music journalism. Needless to say, the prospect of interviewing the band scared me almost catatonic. I needn’t have worried. The band was open and welcoming, and the conversation I had with Eddie Vedder remains one of the highlights of my career. This CMJ cover story reads young and over-earnest, but still means a lot to me. Photos by Danny Clinch. https://www.nicolechildrey.com/work-examples daily 0.75 2023-04-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1546485346551-3WTMGFBTWRXQDRBXKHY7/Ben%2BFolds.jpg Work Examples - “Music marketing goes high-tech” THE TENNESSEAN, 2007 Literally the first time “Twitter” appeared in the paper, at least in the social-media context, was in this piece, which features piano-pop star Ben Folds and other musicians who were early adopters of social media as a marketing platform. Kind of a fun look at how techie music marketing was bubbling up at that point, and context for how much has changed since. Read more here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1546484781901-XMDY39H791C25WKKCIOL/IntroEntre.jpg Work Examples - Introduction to Entrepreneurship THE SKILLERY, 2015 The Skillery started as a hub for classes, geared toward grown-ups and led by local entrepreneurs. Later, it grew into a coworking space (one of Nashville’s first) and entrepreneurship education organization, with a mix of programming designed for aspiring entrepreneurs. In 2015, alongside founder Matt Dudley, I cowrote the Introduction to Entrepreneurship workbook, a companion to a course we developed and launched at The Skillery. It went on to be offered through other coworking spaces and entrepreneurship organizations across the U.S. Read more here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1547435358245-KF8YCKQX82SLZIOCKX5F/Kanye%252BWest.jpg Work Examples - “West pulls no punches” THE TENNESSEAN, 2005 I interviewed Kanye, so early on. He told me about this new band Morrissey that he loved, and sang Fiona Apple songs to me, and called himself “ridiculously dope.” In hindsight… kind of your run-of-the-mill Kanye interview? Read more here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1547430051651-8Z0NR9XEU5IT7RA2PM8J/Angus+Young.jpg Work Examples - “PErfect matches” GIBSON, 2007 I’m a drummer, but my first instrument was the guitar, and the first instrument I dreamed about, pined for, absolutely obsessed over, was a Gibson Les Paul. Some years back, Gibson invited me to write regularly about musicians who played their guitars — kind of a mishmash between marketing and journalism. It was a really fun and challenging needle to thread. I wrote a ton for them, and most of it is a blur, but this one was really popular and, I think, a good example of how you can make marketing copy fun and useful for readers. Read more here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1545363111240-83F2KDDS3I0AB2FE1KLB/Alicia+Witt.jpg Work Examples - “The soul of Witt” THE EAST NASHVILLIAN, 2018 I’m a huge Walking Dead fan, and a Dune fan, so I was intrigued to find out that actress Alicia Witt, brilliant in both those productions and many, many others, was now making music in Nashville. Turns out she’s impeccably talented there, too, and has been working with the likes of Ben Folds, and Kings of Leon producer Jacquire King. Read more here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1546484904487-MQFEAMV2V5TWLKEYJFN0/Jack%2BWhite%2Bfor%2Bthe%2BNashville%2BScene.jpg Work Examples - “Damn the Enormodomes” NASHVILLE SCENE, 2012 Around 2011-2012, I started thinking about the idea of scarcity, and how in a music industry that’d been upended by abundance, creating scarcity was becoming a winning formula — be it creating limited-edition, high-design vinyl releases or hosting intimate house shows with limited tickets and almost unlimited access to the performer. This is what resulted: “According to guys like David Bazan, David Mead and Jack White, making a music career work in 2012 might be all about thinking small.” Read more here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1547427612709-A61I6QRI3YC9F50PQCTB/Steve%2BDurr.jpg Work Examples - “Sound Fine Tuned: Steve Durr” NASHVILLE ARTS, 2012 What acoustic designer Steve Durr does — fine-tuning some of the best recording studios and venues in and out of Nashville — is mysterious and fascinating to me. It was enlightening to talk about how he came to be Nashville’s A-list studio tuner for Nashville Arts magazine. Read more here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1547227571897-SWN9BG4QQOZWA7CZGBV4/Ashland+Place+marketing+flyer.jpg Work Examples - Ashland Place marketing Design a flyer? Sure, why not. I don’t routinely do graphic design, and greatly admire professional graphic designers and think their expertise is invaluable. I also love a challenge, and love to learn new skills. So when a client needs something quickly — a simple website created, or a flyer drawn up — I tend to be eager to do what I can to make it happen. These are skills I’m working on sharpening now, and although I have a long way to go, I’m enjoying the process. Full picture here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1547432701107-74APSHNUDCMGFME3ORVT/Elvis+Costello.jpg Work Examples - “Song never remains same for Costello” THE TENNESSEAN, 2007 I’m not sure there’s a more gifted songwriter, with a more varied catalog, than Elvis Costello. So getting the opportunity to talk about songwriting — to ask him to share some of the key bits of knowledge that have kept him moving forward — was a huge bit of luck for me. His wisdom makes for a fun and enlightening read. More here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1545362967986-H3MCK0ENKSAFWQE6YOMT/East+Side+comedy.jpg Work Examples - “Laughing matters” THE EAST NASHVILLIAN, 2014 The stand-up comedy scene in Music City is remarkable, and watching it blossom, as a comedy fan and a Nashvillian, has been a thrill. I dug into some of the players helping the local comedy scene grow for Nashville magazine The East Nashvillian. Read more here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1545252821670-XQHSQ09UOE5RII3S9VYZ/Paramore+for+SPIN.jpg Work Examples - “Paramore is a Band” SPIN, 2008 I was and am a big Paramore fan, and I was honored to get the opportunity to paint a portrait of them as a cohesive unit, rather than just spotlighting singer Hayley Williams, as was often the case. Not long after, the thrust of this piece turned out to be… a little awkward. (Unfamiliar? Google, and pity me.) For my part, I think she and they meant this headline to be the genuine case. Relationships are complicated, bandmate ones especially so. I spent a quick evening rolling around Franklin with the band, and turned this around the next day. Photo by Viki Forshee. Read more here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1547228116767-26MPN10GTCROG8B3L3YV/Powell+Architecture+and+Building+Studio.jpg Work Examples - Powell Architecture + Building Studio LookbooK Real talk: I am a massive, massive fan of Nashville’s Powell Architecture + Building Studio — they’re responsible for some of the city’s most visually stunning restaurants and commercial buildings. So getting asked to write copy for their gorgeous lookbook was a sincere honor. Their team wrote the intro graf — “The Design-Build Difference” — but the rest of the copy was mine. Check out the full lookbook here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1546485309495-N4K5V6YQ5QLF4O92K8QW/Miracle%252BDrug.jpg Work Examples - “Progeny of successful musicians face great expectations” THE TENNESSEAN, 2007 Unsurprisingly, Nashville is full of second- and third-generation musicians, often striving to follow in their parents’ footsteps and emerge from their shadows. I spoke with a bunch of young musicians with famous parents — including Donna Summer’s daughter Amanda Sudano of Johnnyswim, and Steven Curtis Chapman’s sons Caleb and Will of Colony House — and got some fascinating insight, well ahead of those young folks’ own rises to fame. Read more here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1547429778431-5S0D6PN5AWHP7J0AMCPX/edited.jpg Work Examples - “Live 8 more than music to Jars of Clay” THE TENNESSEAN, 2005 One of the more surreal experiences of my life, the paper sent me to Philadelphia for the massive Live 8 event, to follow Nashville band Jars of Clay. Those whip-quick-deadline front-page stories are a thrill, but super stressful — you’re reporting in a frenzy, then writing in a double frenzy, all under weird/frenzied conditions (like, in this case, wandering around backstage at one of the biggest events of the decade, while Beyonce rolls by in a golf cart and stuff). Read more here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1547225739740-Q10SV5LOLF99CYWQFNVJ/Pearl+Jam+CMJ.jpg Work Examples - “Riot Goin’ On” CMJ NEW MUSIC MONTHLY, 2002 I was 14 in 1991, when Pearl Jam released Ten — primed for obsession. The band led me down my path, in a sense: I fell for that record, started reading about them, got introduced to Fugazi and Minor Threat and DIY shows. Needless to say, the prospect of interviewing the band scared me almost catatonic, especially since Eddie Vedder had a reputation for being prickly with press. I needn’t have worried. The band was open and welcoming, and the conversation I had with Vedder remains one of the highlights of my career. The cover story that resulted is young and earnest, but still means something to me. Photos by Danny Clinch. Read more here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1545363714272-6UIHTIIZEQFAKATCNJP2/Ten+out+of+Tenn.jpg Work Examples - “Takes ten to know Tenn” NASHVILLE SCENE, 2011 At the time, there was almost nothing more of-the-moment-Nashville than singer-songwriter collective Ten out of Tenn, stocked with a changing cast of gifted pop artists sharing the spotlight, contributing to each other’s songs and spreading the good word about the local pop scene. Their genesis was fascinating, and their approach heartwarming. Read more here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1547436296750-2AQ81AQYF3ENLO9U401Y/Dead%2BWeather.jpg Work Examples - “Jack White debuts new band Dead Weather” ROLLING STONE: 2009 The very first event ever held at Third Man Records in Nashville, and I was lucky enough to be there, chronicling things for Rolling Stone. The Dead Weather was a force, and I feel pretty certain I’ll be bragging about this to my grandkids, just probably by projecting it onto the walls with my eyeballs, or whatever talking might look like in 2040. Photo by David Swanson. Read more here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1545361468053-Z2LC0736BRG0J8845WO8/Glossary.jpg Work Examples - “Rock ’n’ roll vs. real life” THE TENNESSEAN, 2006 This is one of my favorite Tennessean pieces, in part about a criminally underappreciated Nashville band named Glossary, but more broadly, about the struggle of fighting for a music career as grown-up concerns keep pulling at your pockets. Read more here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/cefa7783-fdc5-4826-951e-577f2a32a845/The+Quote+Campaign.jpg Work Examples - “THE QUOTE CAMPAIGN” For one of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s 2020–2021 ad campaigns, we sought solace and inspiration in the words of the artists that filled the galleries and, pre-pandemic, had stood on the stages in the museum’s theaters. The aim was to spotlight music’s restorative powers, in a sense, and to serve up the hard-won wisdom of some of the genre’s biggest stars in an artful way. This was a team effort, and one we were very proud of. A few that I wrote copy for include this one on singer Maren Morris, this one on brilliant bon vivant Cowboy Jack Clement, and this one on guitar innovator and genre standard-setter Maybelle Carter. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/1547428134618-AYTK7SQPT67GZND00KYM/Mynabirds.jpg Work Examples - BMI: SXSW Blog BMI, 2012 Along with writing, I’ve also spent years touring the country/world as a drummer alongside a mix of artists, including eclectic pop band The Mynabirds and Raconteurs member Brendan Benson. In 2012, as industry fest South by Southwest was approaching, performing rights organization BMI asked me to combine the two jobs and blog about my SXSW experience. It was an interesting challenge, and a fun project. If you’ve ever played/been to SXSW, you’ll grasp how interesting it tends to get, trying to string a thought together, much less a few hundred words. Read more here. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c195b344611a067b59ee06a/63cc5e52-007a-4c4a-9ecd-5d89e47edcaa/mission+ads.jpg Work Examples - “THE MISSION CAMPAIGN” In 2019–2020, we ran an ad campaign at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum that we dubbed “The Mission Campaign” — a nod to its inspiration and how the approach would and should center. While previous campaigns focused more on… telling people to come visit, this one leaned heavily into the museum’s educational mission, framing little pieces of historical storytelling and putting them out into the marketplace — a taste of why coming into the building can be so inspirational, and educational, and fun. I wrote weekly copy, and it won a Gold Addy Award for "integrated Advertising Campaign-Consumer, Local."