Derek Nicoletto

Reverbnation Featured Artist of the Week 8/1/11

“Kind Ghosts” by Derek Nicoletto
released July 26, 2011
(7 Trick Pony Records/Island Def Jam Digital Distr.)

With his first-ever solo album, "Kind Ghosts," (2011), Billboard-honored singer/songwriter Derek Nicoletto flaunts his knack for infusing unique pop hooks, vivid lyrical imagery and evocative instrumentation into what could be called full-bodied electropop collection of singles. Shaped by Platinum-selling producer Jamie Siegel (Taking Back Sunday, The Roots), Nicoletto’s new direction in “Kind Ghosts” highlights his pure vocal talent upon a backdrop of bubbly, yet sensitive electronica with a signature flair of rocky soulfulness.

Charting on hundreds of FM and college stations or live on Sirius radio, Derek's songs have reached millions of people on the radio waves. His songs have been used in over 25 television programs and several commercials. Most recently: MTV (several shows), Vh1, NBC, CBS, NBC Dateline, FuseTV, E!, A&E, Sports NY, Spike TV, LOGO, Lifetime, OWN.
Comm: KMart, Levi's, L'Oreal, Radio Shack, Hyundai, State Farm, PGA Tour, and more.

Nicoletto shares, making “Kind Ghosts” meant examining and taking the best of what’s created me to this moment, all the joy, pain, beauty, humility, and then baring myself in a new sense of self. I could only trust Jamie Siegel to help me accomplish this task. We are so proud of the result. Today, I know that there are powers greater than myself looking out for me. Sometimes they are clear angels, like my grandfathers, sometimes they are visions that I can’t explain. I call these my “kind ghosts.” They are reflected through the snapshots of these songs and the people or experiences that have shaped me into the artist, father, son, friend, lover and stranger I am today,” Nicoletto explains. “Most of all, I’ve realized that the residue of my past contains a gorgeous, bright and child-like innocent love, incorporated here in the musical atmosphere of all the songs on “Kind Ghosts,” no matter the specific theme of each song. And looking at this constant in my life as I created this album, I realized I’m going to be all right, no matter what life brings my way. Thus, the theme of the album, as an entire piece, is the lyric from the title track. “Remember your name, sing it to the sky, go out and dance for yourself tonight. Let go, or be dragged behind. Kind ghosts will carry you home tonight.”

Having penned scores of pop/rock songs for his own bands, other artists and commercial projects, Nicoletto has become a well-known voice in the independent music scene and a voting member of the Grammy Awards and now begins his long-awaited solo career with an electropop bang, as glowing and raw as the “Kind Ghost” album cover itself.

"Interesting themes, catchy grooves...the talent is obvious." - Billboard
"A singer with heart and soul." - Indie Round Up
"Versatility and soulfulness." - Infuze
"Passion, talent and ingenuity." - SuChin Pak, MTV News Correspondent
"Nicoletto has a unique voice that carries and captures his vivid lyrical imagery." - Blog Critics Magazine.