Wendy Nichol

By day, local folk singer Wendy Nichol is a store manager at a Tulsa Starbucks.

She might take your order for a double latte grande, or if you've a complaint, she'd be the one with whom you'd speak.

But outside of work, she's Wendy Nichol, a singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar, a sweet soprano, a hip-hop delivery and a first album to promote. The former Edison High School and Tulsa Community College student will release her first CD, "Steppin' Up," this Saturday at the Blend Coffeehouse in Broken Arrow.

The album comes after no small amount of work for Hall at a second job and gigging at coffee shops for little or no money. To finish off "Steppin' Up," Hall had to work a pizza delivery job last summer.

Armed solely with an acoustic guitar, Wendy, has channeled the last few years' worth of emotional events in her life into the 10-song album.

She has been a regular on the coffee house circuit in Tulsa, playing her intimate music to rapt listeners, but not exactly getting paid for it, so she has one simple goal.

"I want music to pay the bills some day," she said.

Although she appreciates the coffee house beat (her first show was at the Gypsy Coffee House), she's ready to move on to touring regionally, she said. She plans on playing shows in Chicago, Missouri and Arkansas this year.

Wendy grew up filling journals with poetry but didn't learn guitar until 1999, thanks to a classical guitar class at TCC.

Her songs stem from that ever-present folk singer-songwriter source, "life experiences," especially heartache.

"Heartache is the easiest feeling to write about," she said. "There are so many intense emotions involved."

"Thinkin'," boasting harmonies and a cold, dry-as-a-bone guitar, is about spending time with a good friend, she said. She hopes that "I Just Do" reaches someone who has just broken up with a significant other and needs to get over it.

"Light to Your Demise" has a bit of a swagger not usually seen in folk music -- unless you're Ani DiFranco. It's propelled by a drum machine, with Hall rapping in an almost reggae-fashion, calling out the fakes.

The album will be available at her show Saturday and later online at www.cdbaby.com, iTunes, her Web site www.wendynichol.com, and in some local indie record stores.

She's already started writing her next album, she said, and she hopes the sales of this album will finance that new project - By MATT ELLIOTT World Scene

12/29/2007
But in this instance, the words — and the music — blend to create an eerie backdrop for a compelling tale of murder and redemption.

“Jesus Fish,” produced by Tulsan Robert Harris and written and directed by fellow Tulsan Titus Jackson, touts a soundtrack as unique as the film’s premise.

The movie not only boasts a roster of local film talent, but of local and regional music acts, as well.

The score, “Salvation” by Tulsan Lydia L. Ashton, leads listeners into a David Lynchesque journey, via floaty piano, harp, violin and classicalinspired harmonies.

Those dark, skittering jazz tunes you’ll hear are from Chicago act Undertow, which sets a creeping, anxious vibe with bleating saxophone trills, drum rolls and ricocheting guitar notes.

Combine with that the straightforward, dark, melodic rock of Tulsa’s AfterGlow, the soulful acoustic melodies of 2007 Spot Music Award nominee Wendy Nichol, thunderous Southern rocker Chuk Cooley (relative of legend Spade Cooley), and the Black Crowes-esque power of Ronnie Deane’s poppy alternative rock (you definitely will know it when you hear it) — and more than a half-dozen other regional and local acts — the music alone probably is worth the trip to the theater.

Unfortunately, the soundtrack is not currently for sale, Harris said.

The good news is, you can Google just about all of these acts and listen to and buy their music online, or suggest your local record store carry it.
- By JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer

12/20/2007

A 2007 Spot Music Award rising star nominee, soulful crooner Wendy Nichol will perform with the local Southern rock act the Fiddlebacks and indie act the January, 9 p.m. Thursday at Exit 6C, 222 E. First St.

A cosmic collision of Ani DiFranco, Norah Jones and Jason Mraz, Nichol's sound is an intricate, romantic and truthful blend of indie-rock and soul with drops of spoken word and hip-hop thrown in for flavor. Call it alternative folk. Armed with an acoustic guitar, a sweet soprano and a hip-hop delivery, she's a potent force on the scene.
- By JENNIFER CHANCELLOR World Scene Writer

7/30/2007
Last Modified: 7/30/2007 5:00 PM
Slide show: Watch a slide show of photographs taken by Tulsa World photographers at Dfest.

Dfest grows with crowd-pleasing acts, larger venue
Downtown Tulsa’s Dfest closed out Saturday night to thinner crowds than its Friday opening, but the festival appeared to have drawn the biggest total attendance in its six-year history.

That was no doubt due to the festival’s lineup, which mixed local acts with national indie acts, and its location, which allowed for bigger crowds. The Flaming Lips, complete with a UFO and enough confetti to celebrate the end of World War II, and Shiny Toy Guns took the stages Friday night. Saturday featured performers Amos Lee and a nearly incoherent Leon Russell.

The festival grounds, near Second Street and Cincinnati Avenue, were deserted Sunday morning. Yellow and orange confetti from the Lips’ show blew about the streets, along with show flyers and the odd crushed beer can.

Jen Clark, a Dfest spokeswoman, said the festival’s 150 bands packed the smaller indoor stages at the various bars and restaurants hosting them. So many people attended the Flaming Lips show that security had to stop letting people in.

“It’s safe to say just on Friday alone we had 15,000 people for sure,” said Clark, who added that attendance numbers will be released later this week.

Security turned people away from venues packed to capacity, including Congress of a Crow’s Friday set at the Blue Dome Diner.

On Saturday, Tulsa’s space rock pop experimentalists Ghosts could be seen donning their white Tyvek suits just inside the door to their show at Exit 6C. A line of revelers could only wait outside as security would only let people in as others left.

Folk singers Wade Burrow and Wendy Nichol rounded out the performers at 1974 on Saturday. Inside, folks dined on hamburgers and threw back some beers while Burrow played his Bob Dylan/Woody Guthrie-inspired material helped only by his acoustic guitar and harmonica.

The coolest venue seemed to be the oddly-named First Street Lofts Lounge which was basically a gutted and cramped Studio 310 without air conditioning and with piles of trash. MC Chris, of the cartoon Aqua Teen Hunger Force, joked on stage about the film “The Goonies” — “How did the map get in the attic,” he asked — between his spit-fire songs. People stood on table tops and benches for a better view.

Dfest has obviously come a long way since its debut. For 2004’s version, Tulsa World archives show organizers put attendance around 1,500 people.

“The business comes here now,” said the Red Dirt Rangers’ John Cooper, who was seen walking the festival streets Friday with a beer in hand. “I’m happy for Tulsa, and why not Tulsa? Come on, man ... Oklahoma City isn’t cool enough to have it.”

Clark said Dfest organizers aggressively sought big sponsorships this year, and won help from companies including Cox Communications, QuikTrip and Budweiser.

They’re already talking about next year, she said. Organizers are discussing adding an extra day as well, she said.

And the performance side was only one part of Dfest. The other half, a series of workshops for professional musicians making original music, took place at the Doubletree Hotel Downtown, which Clark said was also packed.

Dfest, and other festivals like it, are only as good as their next installment. But the festival seems to have certainly arrived as a major regional draw that brings fans and dollars to downtown Tulsa.
- By MATT ELLIOTT World Scene Writer

4/6/2007
Last Modified: 4/6/2007 10:10 AM
Two local acts are turning to the Internet to take the next step up the career ladder.

Citizen Mundi is in an online competition to win a spot on the main stage of the Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival this June.

Also, local folk/hip hop chanteuse Wendy Nichol is in a contest to get on the bill for a spot on the Cornerstone Festival's new band showcase stage.

Citizen Mundi, Tulsa's reggae/funk/jazz/rock favorite, won a spot on the Lawrence, Kan., festival earlier this year following a contest performance at the Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa.

Fans can vote to put Mundi on the main stage through www.wakarusa.com by following the link through "Waka Winter Classic" logo at the bottom of the home page and registering, the festival's Web site states.

The bands with the top three votes will earn a spot in the Revival Tent of the festival, which runs from June 7-10.

Nichol is trying to snare a spot on the line-up with the festival, which is a Christian music concert series that runs from June 25-30 in Bushnell, Ill.
- By Staff Reports