Interview with singer-songwriter Nichole Wagner

Photography by Valerie Fremin



                Austin, TX singer-songwriter Nichole Wagner, whose new ep, Plotting the Constellations dropped in January,  writes that "Music, at the end of the day, is a service." And as to the mysterious how of it all, when it comes to songwriting "every once in a while something falls from the sky and you’re in the right spot to catch it…and it just feels “right” — or it says whatever it is you’re trying to say in the way you needed to hear it." Nichole talks with AHC about the important role that music has played for her throughout her life and says that her biggest hope, at the end of the day, is that others find joy or solace out of what she's created.


AHC: What has this journey in music, so far, been like for you, the highs and the lows, and what life lessons do you feel you've picked up along the way?

Nichole: Oh man, I think the only thing I know for sure is that I know hardly anything about this whole dang music journey or life in general.  I haven’t been playing music “professionally” for all that long but music has been such an integral part of my life since my very first memories.  I would say that the high right now is just in the realization that it IS a journey and that I’m fortunate enough to be able to be on the path!

AHC: What first drew you to music and what was your early musical environment like growing up? Were there pivotal songs for you then that just floored you the moment you heard them?

Nichole: There are some really specific memories I have as a child regarding music.  There’s early home videos of me listening to Jackson Browne and Bruce Springsteen with my dad and I remember listening to the Indigo Girls and Joni Mitchell in my mom’s car.  Music was everywhere, I mean, we had a framed photo of John Hartford in the house.  I think my dad’s two favorite stories that involve music and my childhood are that he bolted my carseat to the floorboards of the van in between two big JBL speakers and that I would request the Grateful Dead’s version of Monkey & The Engineer over and over again.  

Once I started making my own musical choices I started listening to Fleetwood Mac, specifically Stevie’s writing, and really connecting in my own way to that music.  I remember hearing “Gypsy” for what I’m sure was the hundredth time but REALLY hearing it for the first time and feeling like I needed to hear every other song that this person sang.  I felt the same way the first time I really heard Emmylou Harris’ “Boulder to Birmingham” too.

AHC: Do you remember the first song that you ever wrote or played? Or that first moment when you picked up a pen and realized that you could create whole worlds just by putting it to paper? 

Nichole: I didn’t pick up an instrument with any sort of seriousness until high school, so I was fairly limited in my early songwriting attempts.  I was mostly writing poetry, not really lyrics. I finally started to sort of plunk out some melodies and build from there but I wouldn't say that anything from that time period is performable and then I gave it up, and just didn't write for a number of years -- I had other creative outlets but not writing. It wasn't until very recently, within the past two years, that I really refocused my efforts into songwriting and approaching it with a tangible goal. 

AHC: Which musicians have you learned the most from? Or writers, artists, filmmakers, family members, teachers/mentors etc?

Nichole: I’ve been so fortunate to be part of a community of musicians, many (all) of whom are farther down this path than I am and they have been so generous with their skills and knowledge and time.  I don’t know that I can single any one person out as having taught me the “most.”  In a more broad sense, of course, I try to learn from those who are huge influences… artists that have had such a staying power because they live their truth… like Stevie Nicks, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Petty… I think that’s a big reason they have the career longevity and there’s a lot there to learn about putting on a great show and serving the art.

AHC: What do you think makes for a good song, as you're writing and composing, is there a sudden moment when you know you've found the right mix, that perfect angle of light, so to speak? 

Nichole: Ha! It’s different for every song.  Sometimes you have something that’s mostly finished but you play it out and you know deep down that it’s not done.  Or there’s a line that you get to and you sort of cringe. So I try to let those ones sit, and then every once in awhile something falls from the sky and you’re in the right spot to catch it…and it just feels “right” — or it says whatever it is you’re trying to say in the way you needed to hear it.  That’s a lot of what songwriting is for me, it’s very personal and I’m always trying to find those little gems that feel right.  I wish it was more sudden, sometimes it’s a lot of work trying different options and lines, but it’s worth it.

AHC: Do you consider music to be a type of healing art, the perfect vehicle through which to translate a feeling, a state of rupture/rapture, hope lost and regained? Does the writing and creating of the song save you in the kinds of ways that it saves us, the listener?

Nichole: Absolutely.  No doubt about it, I NEED music to be my happiest self.  I need sad songs, happy songs, and dance songs (or sad songs to dance it out to, I don’t discriminate).  My biggest hope in writing is that others find joy or solace or at least a little enjoyment out of something that I’ve created in the same way that I find those things in songs and music I love. Music, at the end of the day, is a service.

AHC: What are your fondest musical memories? In your house? In your neighborhood or town? On-tour, on-the-road?

Nichole: Tough choice! As far as performing goes, I got to play a showcase recently at a big conference for folk music and it seemed like every time I looked up, another one of my friends had popped in to show their support.  That was a really sweet moment, and those sweet little moments are everywhere.

AHC: When you set out to write or compose a song, how much does 'where the world is' in its current moment, culturally, politically, otherwise, influence the kinds of stories you set out to tell?

Nichole: As much as it influences me as a person, I write from what I know and every thing that happens to you and those around you inherently changes the way you might approach a song.  I’m not a “protest song writer” in so many words, but the act of living and being engaged in the greater community and world forces you to at least consider how it’s all interconnected.

AHC: Do you have any words of advice or encouragement for other musicians and singer-songwriters out there who are trying to find their own unique inner voice and their way in this world? What are the kinds of things that you tell yourself when you begin to have doubts or are struggling with the creative process?

Nichole: I don’t know that I'm the right person to be giving advice so I’ll share two things that have been shared with me that help.  

“Doing the thing IS the thing,” basically that to be anything (like a songwriter) you just have to do IT (write songs!).  And the more you do it, the better.  

And then my favorite thing to remember when I'm stuck: “tell the truth and make it rhyme” — I ought to get that one embroidered on a pillow!

AHC: Do you have any new projects you'd like to mention?

Nichole: I just put out an EP in January called “Plotting the Constellations” — I’m hoping to release a full-length record within the next year or so.  Until then, I'll be playing around Austin and beyond. You can find me on the internet at​ nicholewagnermusic.com, on Instagram @thenicholewagner and Facebook.com/NicholeWagnerMusic