Nicole Atkins has one of the best voices in rock music today. Period. Full stop.
Now, could we be biased? Since we were born and based at the Jersey Shore, we have an inherent love for anyone from the region where the streets are paved with pork roll, and everyone has a Springsteen story. And it is a little-known fact that her Thanksgiving Eve performance at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park inspired us to plant our editorial flag in the famed musical city by the sea.
Yet, since 2007, when she dropped her major-label debut, we’ve listened to Atkins’ beguiling, noir-tinged vocals as she’s delivered bluesy, Orbison-esque ballads, undeniable toe-tappers and hip-shakers, and soul-stirring anthems. Her latest release, Drama, which dropped on September 19 on the legendary Sun Records, may in fact be her most complete work to date. All the hallmarks that have put Atkins on the map, on the road with the likes of Nick Cave and Chris Isaak, and on a James Gunn-curated playlist for 2025’s Superman are there. Yet, there’s something more here — it’s the emotional vulnerability and honesty that’s been captured lyrically and sonically that makes this not just her most complete work, but quite possibly her best work to date.
We spoke with Nicole Atkins days before her debut at The Grand Ole Opry, and a week before Drama dropped. She brought a beautiful blend of humor and honesty to our discussion about depression, drinking, pizza in Nashville, Jersey Shore bars that did her wrong, working with Chris Isaak, and being on the same record label as Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison.
Is there truth to the story that “Singing in the Mirror” came after …
Seeing Weird Al, yeah.
I just literally saw Weird Al this summer, and I was like, I was really happy after that.
I was so happy, and then I got home, and it just turned off. It’s just a weird thing; depression is like I’m at Weird Al. I actually got to be in the beginning of it, in the video part where he runs out, like, where the cake is thrown in Puddle’s [of Puddles Pity Party] face. I got to do that, and it was so much fun. I had a great time, and when I got home, it’s the same shit that happens when you’re stuck in a mode where it’s just a phase of your life. This is the phase of my life where I was having all these sleep problems for years. I couldn’t fall asleep, and when I did, I couldn’t wake up. I’d wake up, and it’d be two days later.
The whole time I thought I was morbidly depressed, but I was actually just on an antidepressant that I shouldn’t have been on anymore. So singing in the mirror was the last straw. I was looking in the mirror at my own eyes, just being like, “Come on, where are you?” Where’s your chutzpah? I felt really embarrassed doing that, so I started singing the chorus of “Singing in the Mirror” to make myself feel less embarrassed. Because I was just like, okay, if I’m doing this right now, I bet a lot of people are doing this right now. Even if I was wearing a gimp mask and throwing toast around the room, somebody is doing that somewhere in the world right now.
…Or maybe not to that extreme. However, I get what you mean. On Drama, you tackle a lot of serious issues — loneliness, separation, isolation. I’ve been there. I’ve been on the antidepressant that messes with you. It’s not easy to talk about. Did you find opening up about all this on the record cathartic?
Writing was my way out of all of that. If I’m gonna go through this stuff, I better make something really great out of it, because it’s just hard. But I feel like all the songs on this record… because when you listen to it, it doesn’t sound like loneliness. It sounds like the opposite of that. Some of the songs on Drama kick off with, “Boom!” There’s so much sound and excitement. You feel like you’re gonna be okay, even though the record’s about heavy shit.
This is gonna sound so corny. But I was trying to create a sound that would save my life, you know?
And… did it?
Yeah, it’s a banger. And I’m really excited now. I’m not on that antidepressant anymore, so I wake up like a normal person. It’s weird, because that whole time between records, that’s when my sleep stuff started. And now that this is coming out, it’ll be a year since I’ve had that problem with sleep.
But when you were in that process of writing that album…
It was horrible. It was torture.
No, I mean, when writing it, that’s such a vulnerable thing to write about and to open up about. A lot of people hide that — a lot of people.
I know, and that’s why I felt so, so corny. I write about what I know, and that’s what I was going through. A lot of people could be like, there’s a Pandora’s Box that you open when you talk, you know, talk honestly about yourself when you’re a musician. I feel like if I’m not talking about it … I don’t want to lie about what it’s about. I feel like music is there to help people. My music helps me with my bad emotions, so if it can help somebody else by talking about what the songs are about, that’s fine.
I remember when I was quitting drinking, or anything hard, I’d always scour the internet and be like, “Alright, cool female musicians who quit drinking?” It would just be Bonnie Raitt, and that was it back then. And I’d be like, “Thanks, Bonnie Raitt!” and also, fuck all y’all for lying.
The amount of people, post-COVID, who quit drinking entirely or curbed it severely is pretty staggering (in a good way).
I remember even when we were in lockdown I said to my husband, “Hey, babe, aren’t you glad I don’t drink anymore because we’re locked in with each other.” He’s like, “Jesus, if you still drank and this was happening, it would be hell.”
Moving on from drinking during the pandemic … let’s talk about something pretty major in your career. You’re now on the same record label, Sun Records, as Elvis Presley. Has that fact sunk in yet?
I went on their website the other day, and it was like, Roy Orbison, Elvis, and me. It’s so cool, but it also makes sense to me. When people are like, “Oh, what’s your style of music?” I never know what to say. But it’s traditional rock ‘n’ roll, you know? There are a lot of bands that play traditional rock ‘n’ roll that are modern, but they don’t really give it a [name]. [There’s] traditional R&B, traditional Country, traditional Jazz, but rock ‘n’ roll, which is America’s greatest invention, and we don’t give it a traditional category…which they should.
It blows my mind to see [herself on the Sun Records website], and I would never be the girl in the band who wears her own T-shirt unless I ran out of clean clothes on tour. But the shirt with the Sun logo, and my name on it, I’m like, “I’m fucking wearing this. I’m wearing this every day.” It’s so cool.
In the press release, it says Chris Isaak asked you to make this album at his “behest.” How does it feel to be behested by someone like Chris Isaak?
He gave me money to make a record, like, on his label, so that was…
Well, tell Chris if he needs to behest me to do anything, I can name my price.
I will, I’ll tell him.
But in all seriousness, you started out playing the bars of the Jersey Shore like The Dublin House in Red Bank and …
No, I got fired from the Dublin House. It was bullshit. Yeah, the guy fired me for being 10 minutes late for the second time. I’m a tiny person carrying a giant PA. So, I was on time. But come, why don’t you help me carry the speaker? Then I’ll be on time.
It’s like, brother, have you tried parking at Red Bank, ever?
Exactly. Exactly!
But yeah, American music legend Chris Isaak says to you, “Hey, here’s some money to go make a record.” Let’s talk about his influence on your career, especially since you have toured with him.
He was the first guy to take me on tour, but when I first started learning guitar, “Wicked Game” was the torture I endured to learn bar chords. At the time, I told myself I needed to learn how to play this song, because it’s amazing. Then, in 2007, my agent was like, “Oh, we got a fun request, do you want to open for Chris Isaak?” I was like, “Are you kidding me? It’s funny to me; he’s the second coming of Roy Orbison. And that’s always been my influence. In my mind, it makes total sense because he’s a person of a certain tradition that carried it on, and so am I, to support each other.
It’s funny when you get to working in music and meet people who made music that made you want to write music; it doesn’t feel as weird as it did in your head before. Then when you meet them, you’re like, “Oh, these are my people.” Chris and I get together, make art projects, and we made a bunch of amps out of cardboard. We hang out in the way. I could go home to New Jersey, and my friends would be like, “Hey, do you want to come over and make a sculpture?” I’d be like, yes!
Speaking of New Jersey. I remember when you moved from Asbury Park to Nashville, and people in the scene were like, “Whoa, Nicole Atkins is heading to Nashville?”
People cared?
Oh my God, so many people cared.
Every time I’m in New Jersey, I’m like, everybody hates me. It’s probably just because my sister’s mean to me.
Listen, she did a great job bartending one of our Christmas charity shows, so that I will speak no ill will into existence. But let’s talk about how Nashville impacted your career. I can hear that change on your albums, but I want your feelings on this move.
I don’t know if it’s my age, but I feel like my music’s gotten a lot better since I moved to Nashville. Maybe it’s because when I lived in New York, the day takes you where it takes you. In Nashville, you get a lot more house for your buck here. I’ve got a house with a porch, and everything isn’t right outside my door. I have to drive to it, so I spend a lot of time at home, which is just good time for writing. I miss the ocean, so if there could be an ocean in Nashville, I’d be so psyched. But in the meantime, there’s just a lot of peace here to be home and work on your craft. Before, in New York, going out was the fun thing, and it was the easy thing. Here, going out’s fun, but the best time is just being at home and working on a song or a painting.
But let’s Missy Elliott this and flip down and reverse it… when you come back to Asbury, though, and you come back to Jersey when you play Asbury again, now that you’ve been so far removed from it, how does that feel?
It actually makes it way more fun. Asbury’s always fun to play, but when you play in your hometown, it’s also really nerve-wracking, because everybody knows you for the most part. I’m on stage, and my stage persona isn’t that much different from my normal self, but it is, to a degree. Then you’re at home, and everybody knows I’m turning it on right now. But it makes it more exciting, because coming home as a visitor rather than just being there adds a level of specialness to the show. Also, it adds a specialness to the show. When I’m coming home, I want to take them to all the local spots like Pete and Elda’s, and all the places that you take for granted when you’re around them so much. Then you move to Nashville, and you’re like, “Remember what Italian food used to be?”
I can’t imagine the pizza is good in Nashville.
There’s a couple decent places. But guess how much a pepperoni pizza costs at a decent place?
Is it cheaper than New Jersey?
$40 for a pepperoni pizza.
I could have a full dinner with my family for that. Is there gold in that pizza?
No, I don’t get it. I don’t, and it’s not as good. You can go to Pete and Elda’s with a $20 bill and leave full.
So Thanksgiving weekend, you’ll be treating the band to a pie there, since you’ll be back at Wonder Bar on November 27?
Now that I’ve been in Nashville, when we have an Asbury show, it feels like it’s New Year’s Eve. No matter what day it is.
Speaking of special days, you’re making your debut at the Grand Ole Opry soon. (This interview was conducted before Atkins performed at The Opry on September 12, 2026). Let’s talk about that, because only the best of the best play there.
I’m terrified, to be honest. I haven’t been sleeping. I can’t wait for Saturday, because it’s a lot to think about every day until you do it. And I’m like, “Why am I nervous?” It’s just two songs.
Which songs did you get?
I’m gonna do “Cue the Symphony,” the duet that’s on the record with Chris [Isaak], and “A Little Crazy” from Goodnight Rhonda Lee, just because out of all of my songs, that’s the song that should be sung on the Grand Ole Opry stage.
Outside of the Opry and the record which just dropped on September 18, what are a few things you’re stoked about for your future?
A lot. I thought about it the other day, and I’ve had two friends going through some shit. So I’ve been mired in their shit. And I just got done with that, and then I was like, “Wait … holy crap, I have a lot of nice things going on. But I couldn’t even see them, because I was too busy helping a friend get divorced and move. But also, it was a good thing not to be aware of the good things going on, because then I would get nervous. My goal now, whenever good things are happening, is to stay in the middle emotionally. Not get too excited, not get too worried, but stay grounded so I can enjoy it and not worry too much about it.
The thing I’m worried about, though, is I don’t have the right necklace to wear, or there’s not enough sparkly bits on my dress.
Everyone in New Jersey needs sparkly bits when they perform at The Grand Ole Opry. I’m just saying.
I kept thinking, are they gonna be like, “She’s from New Jersey, get her out of here!”
But I also think when I go home, like, it’s neat to see my friends and family in Asbury and New Jersey and be like, “Your girl was on the Grand Ole Opry, how weird is that?”
