Today we’d like to introduce you to Jade Nickol.
Jade, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I am from a small lake town called Lake Dallas. It is about 30 miles north of the big city of Dallas. Growing up in a small town meant that everyone knew everything about everyone. My mom was a teacher at the local elementary school and had befriended the music teacher at the same school.
When I was about 7, the music teacher asked my mom if she knew that I sang. She then put me on the cafetorium stage, and I sang “Jesus take the wheel” by Carrie Underwood. At that moment, I knew that whatever I had just done, I wanted to do it for the rest of my life. It wasn’t until I was 10 when I began to take music seriously. I entered in my towns singing competition and ended up winning the whole thing. I competed against adults as old as 40 and won 1000$. That showed my family that I could do this and be successful. I then started taking vocal lessons and learning about artist development. When I was 13, I began to teach myself piano. Learning piano opened up a whole new world to me. That world was the world of songwriting. After a year of self-taught piano, I found an amazing teacher and began learning theory and such. I continued to perform on stage whenever I could, but now I had an instrument. When I turned 15, I began gigging. I would sing at farmers markets, festivals, restaurants, etc.
I loved being able to sing for people other than my parents. I started to meet other musicians and picked up tips and tricks. I learned what networking was and found out it was a huge component in this industry. After about a year and half of gigging, I wanted more. I began teaching myself guitar. I practiced every day and eventually the strings made music instead of buzzes. I wrote on guitar and found my sound. Now, I am 18-year-old, and music is my full-time job. I start online college through Berklee College of Music in 2 weeks and will be studying Music Business. I am so blessed to able to do what I love. The journey to where I am has been long and heartbreaking, but I had also brought me so much clarity. I have met the most interesting people and have made so many friends. Music helps me figure out who I am and what I’m going to be.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
My art is music. I make music. Music has been in my life since I was a baby. I am constantly inspired by people, other songs, situations, etc. What I hope people can take from my music is a sense of relatability. It can be an awful feeling when you feel all alone. Sometimes it feels like you’re the only person in the world feeling a certain way or going through a certain experience.
What I want is for my music to let people know that they are not alone. My music reflects my deepest pains and highs. It’s very exposing and scary at times. I have to show a very personal side of myself on stage in front of people. Like I said, it can be very intimidating at times, but I know music heals. There’s usually one person in the crowd that is feeling the exact same way. I hope that my transparency can give someone else clarity.
What do you think it takes to be successful as an artist?
I define success as happiness. Success is also consistency. Happiness is becoming rarer and rarer to achieve. The pressure to succeed can make you forget the reason you’re doing this. You’ll start to compare yourself or not take what YOU want into consideration. Remembering the joy that what you’re doing brings you is key to success. You have to love what you do in order to become successful. When the love meets consistency, you’re golden. Staying at a consistent balance of love and determination will bring a version of success that you can be satisfied with.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can find my music on all music streaming platforms. Spotty, Apple Music, iTunes Store, etc. I just released my first single. You can support my work by checking out my social media’s. Facebook is my personal favorite. Just search Jade Nickol, and you should be able to find my page.
Contact Info:
- Website: Jadenickol.com
- Email: jadenickolmusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: Jadenickolmusic
- Facebook: Jade Nickol
- Twitter: Jadenickol_
Image Credit:
Leslie Hudson, Brooke Kucel, Mara Hammit, Tyler Lee
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