Rockwired.com interview - September 11th, 2009

NO SCHOOL TODAY! VALERiE NiCOLE TALKS TO ROCKWiRED ABOUT HER DEBUT CD FROM THE HEART STEPPiNG AWAY FROM THE TEACHER'S DESK, AND PURSUiNG THAT ROCK N ROLL DREAM

There is nothing more exciting than a person stepping away from an honorable profession in the name of strapping on a guitar and writing pop songs. Oh the risk! Oh the uncertainty! While music was always the first love for singer-songwriter VALERIE NICOLE, she used her degree in Music Education to teach music at the elementary school-level. If memory serves, music education at that level could either be a pleasure or a punishment, but I'm willing to believe that NICOLE was an engaging teacher and not like my elementary school's music teacher whom everyone had dubbed 'MR. POTATOHEAD'. Eventually, tunes that NICOLE would hum in her head became too irresistible so she put the teaching aside and threw herself into songwriting and performing. The years spent perfecting her songcraft have resulted in her debut CD 'FROM THE HEART' - an earnest collection of 'heart on her sleeve' pop gems that run the gamut of country, alternative and sixties pop. ROCKWIRED spoke with VALERIE NICOLE over the phone. Here is how it went.

What are your thoughts on the finished CD? I think that it shows a lot of growth from the EP that I put out in 2007 in terms of my songwriting. I'm looking to record again in the near future but I think the CD at hand definitely shows my growth as a songwriter.

For the full interview, go to... Rockwired.com

-written by Brian Lush at Rockwired.com

C.W.'s Place Review of "From the Heart album" - September 9th, 2009

In 2007 Valerie Nicole released, Soul Searching, and now she's back with her latest album, From the Heart. This latest release is a little bit disjointed though with the first three songs found on it dealing with love and relationships, then out of the blue comes the title track, "From the Heart," an all out protest song calling people to wake up to the troubles of this world before it's too late. The song mentions everything from, hungry babies with nothing to eat, homeless people, obesity, and our destruction of the environment, to TV's exploitation of people.

The release then switches back to three more love, relationship based songs with the most powerful one being, "His Love," a song that deals with an abusive relationship. The song makes good use of the cello part found on it to set a dark mood. The song does end on an up note with the woman finding the strength to get out of the abusive relationship.

The release takes another turn again with its last two tracks. Track-9,"Live Your Dreams," is an upbeat peppy school-spirit type of song that encourages its listeners to live their dreams, not letting any nay-sayers dampen their drive. The song's main theme is that no dream is impossible if you truly believe and don't give up.

Track-10, "Demons," is a really dark, moody, song that is about as far away from the upbeat light happy music that's found on track-9 as you can get. The track deals with death, tragic situations and people getting even. The song talks about if you do something wrong and think that you got away with it, just wait, that justice will eventually catch up with you one way or another and what happens to you isn't going to be pretty. This song once again makes good use of a cello part to add a dramatic element to it.

From the Heart is definitely a unique release that will get your mind working as you listen to it. It's also a tough album to review because of its wild mood swings. Are they inventive and refreshing or just a bad producing job? I haven't decided yet which side of the fence I come down on but I can tell you that I did enjoy Valerie Nicole's vocals that worked best for me on the several more up-tempo songs that are found on From the Heart.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

-written by C.W. Ross at C.W.'s Place

Skope Magazine Review of "From the Heart album" - July 17, 2009

From the moment I pushed play on the CD player, I could tell one thing right away: this girl can sing! I could also tell something else and that is that Valerie Nicole definitely sings from the heart. This record is full of love, pain and everything else in between.

Valerie Nicole handles vocals, keys and guitar on the album while three other players round out her band: Keith Privigyi on lead guitar, Jon Rossi on drums and Derek Mauldin on bass guitar. The entire group folds out nicely and I have to say Valerie on the keys gives the whole record a nice/classy touch-up. The keyboard/piano playing definitely contributes to the whole feel of the album by adding that extra layer.

Valerie has music in her blood as she started singing in choirs at the young age of six, playing piano at seven and then flute by the age of eight years old. Music has to be running through her without question. What an appropriate title then in From The Heart as it stands to be true for Valerie Nicole.

Nicole's singing voice is very impressive with a sweet 'n' subtle touch to it. She seems to have a genuine charm about her when she sings. From The Heart is heavily influenced by the concept of love and everything that is lovey-dovey. You get a sense of a warm 'n' toasty sensation and even that happy-go-lucky-sort-of-feeling when listening to Nicole pour her emotions out. There is even a sense of motivation, determination and strong will power on certain tracks.

On the opening song, "Misunderstood", Valerie Nicole is singing for all the confident women out there. "Just because I'm cute doesn't mean I'm stupid" and "I'm not just a play thing" all signify Valerie's determination to overcome stereotypes. She sings in such a pleasant fashion with soothing harmony while adding in a nice dash of piano. Her angelic tone ironically enough doesn't match up with the overall message, which makes "Misunderstood" a special moment. Nicole decides to veer off track and end things on a serious note. The song is titled "Demons" and it's about running from the demons from your past. The stories unfolded here are quite sad with an immense feeling of pain/hurt. Valerie Nicole, by the end of this record, really seems to have come full circle.

For more on Valerie Nicole's sheer beauty From The Heart, SKOPE out www.valerienicole.net.

-written by Jimmy Rae at Skope Magazine

NeuFutur Magazine Review of "From the Heart album" - July 1, 2009

"Misunderstood" showcases a strong female presence on the vocals, allowing for a blending of country, alternative, and pop music. This means that "Misunderstood" is a track that all can appreciate, and it is done with a skill that will ensure that listeners stick with the disc throughout all ten tracks. Valerie Nicole can literally go anywhere with "Naïve", "From The Heart"'s second track, and settles into a unique sound that touches just as much on seventies country as it does on sixties pop.

"Livin' In The Moment" allows the instrumentation to take a prominent role in the overall feel generated by the track, but this instrumentation does not drown out or otherwise hinder Valerie Nicole's heavenly vocals. Rather, the arrangements on "Livin' In The Moment" allow Valerie to take that next step forward, making an already solid track into something that is truly memorable. The title track for "From The Heart" starts out slow but gradually picks up steam. At all points during this track, Valerie Nicole provides a smooth and calm demeanor, allowing the widest swath of listeners to pick up on her own special form of music. "Wake Up" is another fun track, calling forth the alternative rock that opened up the last decade.

In this track, Valerie Nicole's vocals actually take on an additional duty; instead of only forwarding the lyrical content of the song, Nicole's vocals add substantially to the harmony crafted by the rest of the band. Each track on "From The Heart" provides a little bit more in the way of information about Valerie Nicole, and by the end of "From The Heart", listeners will find that they honestly care about her music in a way that few current artists can elicit. Go and pick up "From The Heart" and see her and her backing back whenever they may play live. They are located in the eastern side of Pennsylvania, but I can't imagine that they will remain rooted for too much longer, especially when more listeners get wind of what is truly a beautiful album.

Top Tracks: Misunderstood, Livin' In The Moment

Rating: 8.2/10

-written by James at NeuFutur Magazine

March 2009 Cover of PA Musician Magazine

Valerie Nicole has had a busy couple years! At only 25 years old she has already graduated from college, recorded two CD's and hired a full band! They sure have been busy years, but so far it's all been worth it.

First lets go back to the beginning. She knew by the time she was in 6th grade that she loved singing. She sang in any plays and choirs that she could and was in the band. Her High School Band Director, Daniel Long, encouraged her to go to college for music and she did.

Valerie went to Elizabethtown College for Music Theory and Music Education. In her Music Theory class she had to write songs, and she soon discovered that is what her true passion is! She even had the opportunity to be part of a special composition class that you could only take with a recommendation from her professors. She started performing on her own in college at various open mics and basically anywhere they would let her play. She was part of a female acapella group I would've loved to hear! She graduated in 2005 with her bachelor's degree and got hired at Woodmore Elementary School in Mitchellville, MD, as a music teacher.

As a music teacher she tried to get as involved as she could. She not only did her regular teaching, but she started many extra programs. She was in charge of different choral programs, a recorder group, percussion ensemble, and she even had a special concert for K-2nd graders. The most rewarding part of her teaching career was organizing and directing an entire musical. She had help from some other teachers, but she had to do all the auditioning, directing and all the fun stuff in between. The rewarding part came in when the parents came to the musical and they were so impressed with the talent of their own children. Hopefully she encouraged at least a few kids in the direction of music careers too. The whole time she was teaching she continued to write, but it was getting harder and harder to find the time to perform, so she decided to leave her teaching job and move back home to Birdsboro to persue her career as a singer/songwriter.

Valerie not only sings, she also plays the guitar and keyboard when she's performing. She started by creating a demo that was only ever heard by her or anyone that demanded to hear it. Her songs are mainly written about love and heartache with a pop/rock feel to it. The first time I heard Valerie perform at our acoustic stage I was so impressed. Shortly after that is when Colbie Caillat came out with "Bubbly" and I couldn't believe it...I just kept thinking in my head, that should be Valerie, and her song "Livin in the Moment"! I know one of the biggest parts in having a successful music career is meeting the right people and making the right connections, but sometimes it's sad at who gets all the attention compared to who deserves it. After reading as much as she could and researching the best way to do it, she finally decided to create her first EP, "Soul Searching." Her first attempt at recording landed her into the 2007 American Model and Talent Competition in Orlando, FL, she was awarded 3rd place in the singer/songwriter category. She also had her single "Can't Imagine" accepted by Indie Express to be on their Volume 1 CD in March 2008. This CD was distributed at Canadian Music Week as well as to press and radio stations in Australia! In the end she figured out that most of the talent competitions out there are scams. You have to pay so much just to submit, and you really don't get much out of it. If you want to spend money on something, spend it attending as many conferences as you can. The Millennium Music Conference helped Valerie understand so much more about the whole "business" aspect plus so much more, not to mention all of the connections she made. Plus the added bonus of getting interviews on Jim Price and Crazy John's radio shows was pretty awesome! She played our acoustic stage as much as she could last year and this year taking advantage of every chance she got to share her music! She also landed a meeting with A & R reps from Warner/Chappel music publishing. The meeting helped push her more to the next level and encouraged her to create her next CD, "From The Heart."

Brian Potts from HCD Studios in Parkville, MD found Valerie on myspace and she decided to head down there for her recording of "From The Heart." The first time around she didn't practice first with her session musicians and she wasn't really happy with the outcome, so this time she wanted to practice first with the musicians to make sure it was everything she wanted it to be. Brian was very accommodating and allowed Valerie a lot more choices than she got at her first recording. Playing with the session musicians helped her realize how cool it would be to have her own band, so she started auditioning members. Valerie had her whole band lined up in time for her CD release party on January 9th and it was a huge success.

Valerie's new band members are, Fred Guiliano, on bass, and he has also taken up the role as music director. Andrew Horvath is on drums, and Keith Privigyi is on lead guitar. The guys had to learn about 30 songs in less than a month, for the release, but they did it and Valerie loves how rockin' it's sounding. It's hard finding venues for just a singer/songwriter, but as a full band she'll be able to book into a lot more clubs not only playing her originals, but also covering all the favorites by Pink, Beyonce, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar, Joan Jett, and so much more! Valerie does all of her own bookings which she enjoys. At some point she'll be looking into management, but right now she's just trying to get her feet off the ground and running!

Valerie wanted to make sure and thank her new found band members, she knows the future looks bright with these guys on her side and she can't wait to see what happens. She also wanted to thank her best roadies any person could have, her Mom and Dad. They've never missed a gig and they are always right by her side helping her lug in and out all of her equipment! One of the biggest keys to a successful musician is lots of encouragement and support and she definitely gets that from both of them.

In the near future Valerie will be recording her first music video for her song "Misunderstood," a song about love gone wrong! Her friend, Jud Widig, will be recording it for her and she'll hopefully get it done and posted online soon.

In the next five years Valerie would just like to be doing more music! She wants to do another CD even on a more professional level, but obviously that requires more money. She's also going to continue, publishing, licensing, and distributing her music. You can catch Valerie Nicole, with her band, March 7th at 6pm at the Ephrata Performing Arts Center, they'll be opening for Josh Albright. You can also check her out online at myspace.com/valerienicole7 or at www.valerienicole.net.

-written by Rachel Rocks at PA Musician Magazine

A review of "From the Heart" from Jim Price @ PA Musician Magazine:

Valerie Nicole's 2007 debut EP, "Soul Searching", introduced a young artist sharing her budding creative talents and aspirations. The four-song sampler conveyed a sense of innocence and a warm, girl-next-door charm. The Birdsboro-based songstress has honed her talents and done more soul searching as a songwriter and lyricist; Valerie's artistic growth is reflected on her first full-length CD, "From The Heart". Singing, playing piano and acoustic guitar, Valerie explores a variety of styles, moods and themes over the disc's ten tracks; smoothly blending pop, folk, rock and country flavors along the way. Lifting and dropping with ease, Valerie's voice is bright, clear and soulful; and she effectively wraps her voice around each melody to convey the intended mood. A song about love gone wrong, "Misunderstood" starts the album off on a serious tone, finishing with a flurry of layered vocal harmonies. The moods are brighter on the happy and romantic "Livin' in the Moment" and "From the Heart," the bouncy "Meant to Be," the bluesy and dreamy "My Turn," and the upbeat and hopeful "Live Your Dreams." Valerie evokes a slightly spiteful emotion with "Naive," erupts with a more agitated tone on the rocking protest song "Wake Up," and utilizes cello to paint darker colors on the abusive relationship study "His Love" and the disc-ending, Tori Amos-flavored "Demons," about reaping what you sow. Although more fleshed out by the backing corps of drummer (and producer) Brian Potts, bassist Garrett Long and cellist Geoff Knorr; "From The Heart" still displays a nice simplicity, as the arrangements are basic and gently support Valerie's voice and melodies, with layered vocal harmonies adding accents and emphasis. "From The Heart" is a clear step forward for Valerie Nicole, and successfully documents her maturation as a singer, songwriter and artist. (To obtain this CD, visit Valerie Nicole's website, www.valerienicole.net.)

-reviewed by Jim Price, PA Musician Magazine

A review of "From the Heart" from RadioIndy.com:

Talented young singer/songwriter Valerie Nicole is off to a great start with her newest CD "From The Heart." Her eclectic influences of both past and present musicians such as Tom Petty to Fiona Apple have helped Nicole develop a great knack for songwriting. The song "Meant To Be" could easily give competition to any Sara Bareilles song on the radio charts today. This track features some nice upbeat and flavorful chord progressions and shows the multi-talented side of Nicole as she performs vocals, guitar and keys. "Demons" is a very deep track filled with string arrangements painting a vivid and dark tonal color. Fans of Sara Bareilles or Fiona Apple will want this CD in their collection as it is filled with a nice mix of songs.

-Shaun and The RadioIndy.com Reviewer Team

Another feature article in Ticket Magazine out of Montgomery Newspapers to promote my "From the Heart" CD release party in December 2008. Check it out here

Listen to my live interview with Crazy John Kerecz of OSHRadio.com while at MMC12. Check it out here

Featured in the January 9th, 2008 issue of Ticket Magazine, distributed in Montgomery Newspapers (Montgomery County, PA)

Check out the article, written by managing editor Craig Ostroff ::here::

Soul Searching by Valerie Nicole

Kinda like The Big Bang Theory, there was this explosion on the pop scene a number of years back that gave birth to a new universe, one dubbed "The Serpentine Confluence of White Chick Pop/Soul Singers."

Oh, this universe has always been around in one way or another, but the most recent incarnation gave way to a population where you could count the good ones on one hand, the really good ones on the other hand--and still have fingers to spare. The trend ultimately died down after Joss Stone set the bar at an almost unachievable height, but there is a new singer on the horizon, and one worth checking out.

Valerie Nicole's debut EP Soul Searching is a little more pop and a little less soul than say, Joss Stone, for example, but as an initial effort, she has all the earmarks to make a name for herself. Starting with strong vocals that are equal parts sweet and soulful, and combining heartfelt lyrics and better than average instrumentation, Soul Searching is a terrific first effort and casual listeners would be wise to snag a copy.

Though this release is a peek into heartache (witness the songs "Can't Imagine", "Fed Up" and "You Never Really Loved Me"), Soul Searching still feels more like a warm hello hug from a high school crush, as the songs have an upbeat feel rather than melancholy misery. This is a good thing. Yeah, it may have happened before, but it sure is sweet and welcome every time.

Michael Canter - SonicJive

November 2006