Katie Nicholas is an independent female producer, videographer and singer-songwriter from Liverpool with firm roots in country, folk and americana. With a loyal community that has steadily been building, performing sold out shows at various theatres, galleries, museums, including her first headline show at the Liverpool Philharmonic accompanied by strings, her work has been recognised by the likes of Whispering Bob Harris (featuring on his Nashville Showcase Stage at AmericanaFest 2018) as well as various BBC Radio sessions and airplay. “Powerful Vulnerability” - BBC Radio Scotland’s Travelling Folk Show.
In 2024 Katie embarked on her 50-song video series, the “Songwriter Diaries” where she explores 10+ years of unreleased material which never saw the light of day due to industry setbacks and personal circumstances. In an effort to “catch up” with where she left off, she shares stories and songs, broken into 7 distinct eras, revealing her prolific catalogue of music - all written between the ages of 15 and 25 (with the exception of her first song, shown here). See the Liverpool Echo interview “Singer told she’s got the looks but not the songs release 50”.
The Full Story
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In 2013, seventeen year old Katie wrote and released her valentine's track "Chemistry", posting it to YouTube with a DIY video she made in her bedroom. Overnight it went viral and eventually led to a no.1 & 3 in the UK/IRE country charts and a Liverpool Youth Music Award sponsored by the Mayor of Liverpool. At 18 she moved to London, working as an apprentice designer in a global advertising agency (katienicholas.info) all while continuing to pursue her music out of work hours. Alone and now in a new unfamiliar city, quickly music fans within the country/americana scene began to closely follow her musical journey, as she shared music videos made from her small flat outside of her 9 to 5. Eventually she released her debut album “Dizzy” in 2015 which was well-received and attracted a lot of industry A&R and label interest.
In deep discussions over the future of her music, at 19 Katie was in and out of label row in Kensington (London), leading to eventual meet-ups with a mentor who was keen to “develop” her talent. With plenty of buzz around her music and performing at the likes of Bush Hall, 100 Club London and the C2C festival showcase pop-up at O2 Arena, Katie had begun sending demos by the dozen to this potential mentor who told had her “you have the looks but don’t have the songs”. With the wind seeping out of her sails and still stuck in her office job, over the following months she gradually went silent and began to lose hope in her vision. Her loyal following had begun questioning her sudden disappearance, especially after the release of her first album. Feeling burnt out and disillusioned, she began to invest all of her focus and energy into her partner’s business dream. Losing confidence in her creations, she eventually removed her music from all online stores. A destructive few years then followed, losing jobs, developing a stutter, and feeling unable to express herself in the only way she knew how: with music.
Fast forward to 2018 and Katie had crash-landed back to her childhood bedroom in Liverpool, after the breakdown and failing of her joint business venture "Busy Bee Ukulele" ahead of launch (see Patience). After years of developing this (with a brief move to York in between) and four years of feeling like a fish out of water in London, she was determined to leap back into her music. Full of fire again, opportunities were coming back around. In Summer she recorded at Abbey Road Studio, later featured on the SSL Audio advert with "Chemistry", and flew to Nashville to perform at Whispering Bob’s UK Showcase in Tennessee during AmericanaFest. There she saved up and attempted to record the album she had written during her years of silence at the Blackbird Studio. However that did not work out and to this day "Space & Time" is still not out in the world. Deeply disappointed and heartbroken by this and the loss of much money, energy and hope... another episode of musical silence took place for the following years, with energies again going into her partner's musical dream instead of her own.
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In 2022, after a few more years of working to rebuild funds to record again, Katie visited Sloe Flower Studio where she attempted to make up for lost time, tracking various projects at once. Here she recorded the Feather EP - a set of fresh new songs written one week before the sessions, with the exception of Feather (2018), all of which explored deeper themes of human fragility. Katie had hoped the release of this one-off folk record would mark a new musical beginning for her, with it quickly picking up interest on various national and regional BBC radio stations, however a day after the Nordic Church release party in December, her grandad passed away the same day her mum was rushed to hospital, where she later passed in January 2023.
The tragedy and upheaval in Katie's life at this point was all encompassing and difficult to navigate and process. In the past she had learnt that silence had only ever compounded her struggles, so her grieving process was one that relied on self-expression and constant clearance - whether that was verbally or creatively. Driven by her mother's words "look after the storyteller", everything Katie did in 2023 was inspired and motivated by the creative spirit of her mother, a painter and poet. Katie persevered with performing, focussing on various museum and gallery shows (The Lady Lever, Williamson Art Gallery) leading to the eventual sell-out of her first headline show at the Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room with Strings. A week later Katie also opened a shop to celebrate the legacy of her mother's fashion and costume designs while moving along her mother's diverse collection of fabrics under the name of Kit Petit.
In true cyclical fashion, the second attempt to release the Feather EP failed in 2023 due to a technical mishap via the distributor. Feather was accidentally released and removed ahead of schedule, quashing its opportunity for algorithmic circulation or wider reach due to it being regarded as an already published work. This company currently faces legal battles for not paying staff or paying artist royalties. One year later, Katie's new distributor emails to say they are terminating her distribution agreement (with no appeal) three days ahead of the release of her single, "You Kill Me". After months of meticulous preparation and creation for the campaign, the devastating and detrimental effect this "technical error" had on Katie's mental health and well-being was profound, and she hopes to advocate on this issue, as people are at the mercy of companies that don't truly protect their artists or their work.
In 2024, and Katie focussed on the weekly posting of her 50-song video series "Songwriter Diaries" (using product sent by Aston microphones). 5 years in the making, and all filmed in 2021, she explored the full back catalogue of her earliest unheard work, spanning 10+ years of music and ending in 2020 (age 25). In a bid to catch-up and give a voice back to her younger self, the project explores 7 eras showing her development as an independent artist who has struggled to get her work out into the world.
2025 is surely set to be the best one yet...
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