基本信息
Nicole Atkins（妮可·阿肯金斯）
出生日期：1978年10月1日
出生地：美國新澤西州Neptune
音樂風格：Psychedelic, alternative, folk rock
活躍時間：2002年至今
維基百科Nicole Atkins網頁地址http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicole_Atkins
Atkins被評為2007滾石雜誌推薦10大值得關注新人之一
個人介紹
Nicole Atkins在1978年10月1日 出生於美國新澤西州的Neptune，她9歲開始學鋼琴，13歲開始自學吉他。她高中就讀於附近城鎮Belmar的St.Rose High School。她常常會去在當地的咖啡屋與一些樂隊演出。高中畢業後她搬去北卡羅來納州在北卡羅來納大學學習Illustration （插畫？）。她開始寫作原創歌曲並與本地的音樂家結交朋友。大三的時候她去了澳大利亞，回來之後她加入了 Los Parasols樂隊，並在2002年和他們一起發布了一張EP，名叫 The Summer of Love 。同年她搬去了紐約，並開始在曼哈頓的東區的一些咖啡館裡公開演出。受一些音樂家影響，她的音樂風格開始有了改變。不久她回到夏洛特，參與一些樂隊演出，並開始寫歌，灌制自己的EP《Bleeding Diamonds》。2004年她又搬回新澤西的父母家，在那段時間她往返於家鄉和紐約之間，參加紐約的一些地下樂隊演出。2004年中時，她與David Muller，一個曾與Fischerspooner 和The Fiery Furnaces一起合作過的鼓手，開始埋首於一張名叫《Party's Over》的專輯的錄製工作中，其中大半是在Nicole的父母家中完成的。2005年，Nicole以前認識的鍵盤手陳丹（Dan Chen）有意與她組建一支樂隊，並介紹她認識了鼓手Dan Mintzer，在他們初次坐下來正式見面的時候Nicole Atkins的兩個夥伴已經會演奏她放在自己的網頁上的歌曲了。之後，又有兩位朋友加入她的樂隊，分別是吉他手David Hollinghurst和貝司手Derek Layes 。他們五人便組成了現在我們所知道的樂隊Nicole Atkins & The Sea。之後樂隊開始演出並獲得關注。她的專輯《Party's Over》很受好評，她也成了唱片公司爭相邀約的歌手，2006年1月Nicole Atkins與哥倫比亞唱片公司簽約。2006年下半年樂隊前往瑞典錄製唱片《Neptune City》，由於某些原因，原定於2007年7月發行的專輯卻藉故推遲到10月底，但這並沒有影響到它大受歡迎的程度。這張專輯在Billboard為新進藝人設立的熱門潛力榜(Heatseekers)中排名20，在2007年11月，它一舉登上 the Heatseekers Middle Atlantic Chart的第六位。
Neptune City，一個過去曾經繁華的New Jersey城市。在Neptune City長大的Nicole Atkins從小就開始收集這個城市中所有的故事，不管是她身邊的人或是活在那個她所嚮往的過去的人們所經過的狀況與生活。
13歲那一年，Nicole Atkins拿起了已經過世的叔叔所留下的吉他，自己摸索學會了一首Grateful Dead的歌。她的父親也帶她認識了一些玩音樂的朋友，她也在到North Carolina念藝術時加入了另類鄉村樂團Los Parasols。直到她在紐約的anti-folk圈找到了自己的音樂，Nicole開始了自己早已累積多年的創作。
Nicole Atkins時而迷幻，又帶一點鄉村而且又很懷舊的音樂就像是從一集SIX FEET UNDER里所選出來的，在製作人Tore Johansson(Franz Ferdinand， OK Go， Saint Etienne， New Order)的協助下，Neptune City聽來完全不像是現在的New Jersey的聲音，而是過去那個輝煌歷史的原聲帶。
Nicole Atkins的歌經常都是講述了某個美麗的悲劇，這位神秘的說故事者用她溫暖又力道十足的深厚嗓音將我們拉回到過去的時空;聽著故事中主角的情緒，自己的心情也無法自拔的隨之波動。點此收縮專輯介紹
專輯發布情況
與Los Parasols一起 2002: The Summer of Love (EP)
獨立專輯 ： 2005: Party’s Over
2006: Bleeding Diamonds Columbia
2007: Neptune City Columbia
獲獎情況
2002 Asbury 音樂獎winner: Top Female Vocalist
Asbury 音樂獎Winner: Best Solo Act
Asbury 音樂獎Winner: Song of the Year – "Neptune City"
2005 ASCAP（美國作曲家、填詞人、出版商協會） Foundation winner: Sammy Cahn Award – "Neptune City"
English Introduction
Nicole Atkins (born October 1, 1978) is an American singer-songwriter best known for her work with the band Nicole Atkins & the Sea. Her sound is known for its mix of traditional vocal styles and introspective lyrics. She has been compared to Roy Orbison and singers from the Brill Building era, as well as more contemporary artists like Jenny Lewis. Atkins has called her work "pop-noir."
Early life
Atkins was born in Neptune, New Jersey to Arthur “Dutch” Atkins and Constance Atkins. Her family is of Sicilian heritage. She grew up in Shark River Hills, a middle class enclave within Neptune overlooking the Shark River. Atkins has cited the river (technically a bay) as a major inspiration for her music, particularly the imagery of “the river in the rain” found in the title track on her album Neptune City. She started playing piano when she was 9 and taught herself to play guitar at 13. Her first music purchase, at the suggestion of an uncle, was a cassette of Traffic’s John Barleycorn Must Die. She eschewed more popular acts of the day for musical groups her parents listened to, such as The Ronettes and Johnny Cash. She has also cited The Sundays’ Harriet Wheeler as a major early influence on her own singing style and claims to have once built a shrine to vocalist Robert Plant. She began playing in pick-up bands around this time and continued to do so, often at local coffeehouses, while attending St. Rose High School in the nearby town of Belmar.
North Carolina and New York
After high school, Atkins moved to Charlotte, North Carolina to study illustration at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She ingrained herself within the city’s independent music scene, discovering bands like Superchunk and Uncle Tupelo. She also started writing original songs and making friends with other local musicians. Among other bands, she joined a supergroup in the city called Nitehawk that, at one point, had almost 30 members. Atkins spent her junior year abroad in Australia. After she returned, she joined the band Los Parasols, releasing an EP with them entitled The Summer of Love in 2002. That same year, Atkins moved to the neighborhood of Bensonhurst in Brooklyn, New York. She began performing at open mic night at the Sidewalk Café in Manhattan’s East Village. Influenced by the artists on Rainbow Quartz, the independent record label specializing in guitar heavy pop music and traditional songwriting for which she worked, she moved away from the louder rock music she’d played in North Carolina and toward the songcraft style of wilco and Roy Orbison. She returned briefly to Charlotte, living in a wood shop and playing with several bands, most notably a group called Virginia Reel. At this time, she started writing what she termed “a mix of Americana, 60s and Indie Rock.” She also recorded her EP Bleeding Diamonds.
In 2004, she moved back to her parents’ house in New Jersey, working odd jobs and playing local GIGS. During a regular Friday night stand at Kelly’s Tavern in nearby Neptune City the audience kept requesting cover songs by local favorites Bruce Springsteen and Jon bon jovi. In response, Atkins got drunk and played a tongue-in-cheek version of Bon Jovi’s “Livin' on a Prayer”. She was not asked back.
During this time, she commuted into New York by train to play gigs and maintain a connection to the city’s underground music scene. In mid-2004, Atkins and David Muller, who had played drums with Fischerspooner and The Fiery Furnaces, started working on a demo CD entitled Party’s Over. They recorded most of the album in Atkins’ parents’ house using a Casio keyboard, a ProTools rig and a mini recorder. Drum parts were recorded at Muller’s apartment in Manhattan, with further tracks recorded at the Dietch Projects gallery in Brooklyn.
The Sea and Neptune City
In early 2005, keyboardist Dan Chen, whom Atkins knew from her days at The Sidewalk Café, approached Atkins about forming a new group. Chen told Atkins he knew of a drummer, Dan Mintzer, who might also be interested in playing with her. When the three sat down together for the first time, Chen and Mintzer already knew how to play the songs they’d heard on Atkins' MySpace page. Eventually David Hollinghurst, another friend from The Sidewalk Café, joined the band on guitar and Derek Layes was brought on as bassist. The band, now known as Nicole Atkins & The Sea, was given a residency at the small showcase bar, Piano's, and won the attention of music industry attorney Gillian Bar. Her Party’s Over demo had stirred interest from heavy metal label Roadrunner Records, among others.Atkins soon found herself in the midst of a bidding war between record labels and signed with Columbia Records in January 2006.In late-2006, Atkins and the Sea traveled to Sweden to record her debut album, Neptune City, at Varispeed Studios in Kalgerup and Gula Studion in Malmö with producer Tore Johansson. The album was originally scheduled for a July 2007 release, but at the behest of Columbia co-chairman Rick Rubin, it was pushed back until October 30, 2007 to accommodate re-mastering the album. It debuted at number 20 on Billboard’s Top Heatseekers chart and, as of December 2007, had reached number 6 on the Heatseekers Middle Atlantic Chart.
