By Monica Collier Staff Writer Originally published in the TimesDaily, Jul 21, 2017 Updated Jul 21, 2017 New Jersey native and Nashville transplant Nicole Atkins is no stranger to the Shoals. The Single Lock artist has performed several times at 116 E. Mobile with tonight's show coinciding with the release of her fourth studio album, "Goodnight Rhonda Lee." Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 and available at 116mobile.com. Atkins recently took time from her tour schedule to answer a few questions by phone. TimesDaily: Yours seems like such a natural and easy talent. Have you been singing and songwriting since you were a young girl? Atkins: Yeah, I have. The first movie I can remember seeing was The Who’s “Tommy.” When I saw that, I just wanted to be in that movie. It’s pretty dark … TimesDaily: It is. I can see that influence in “Goodnight Rhonda Lee” — this album goes through a wide range of emotions. Atkins: Yeah. I’ve been a lifelong theatrical person. TimesDaily: This is your fourth studio album. Is this your most personal work so far? Atkins: Definitely. I feel like my first album … actually, they’re all pretty personal. With this one, I had a lot more life experience to cram into it, you know? TimesDaily: What was going on with you personally when you were writing the songs on “Goodnight Rhonda Lee?” Atkins: Well, you know, I got married and we moved to Nashville. I grew up in New Jersey, but I lived back and forth from New Jersey to New York pretty much my whole adult life. I also quit drinking. I was dealing with some pretty bad depression so I figured it would help. Well, I felt like it couldn’t hurt. It was weird, right around the time I decided to quit drinking was around the time my dad got sick with cancer. He’s doing better now. It’s all good — so far so good. (Writing about) the things that usually you think you would drink over made it a lot easier to deal with. When I was going through all of those things, I was writing about it as I was going through it. I stopped journaling — keeping a personal journal — and was just writing songs about those things. It was coming really naturally. TimesDaily: Does this album reflect a maturing process for you — going from being a young adult to adulthood? I know you’re not “old” now, but this album feels like a step-by-step maturing process because you were dealing with heavy issues. Atkins: I would say more accurately, it was a journey into adulthood kicking and screaming and clawing. Yeah, it wasn’t a very peaceful process. TimesDaily: Who is Rhonda Lee? Does she represent you ending your bad behavior and bad habits? Atkins: It’s still actively going on — I would say it’s just a little more peaceful now. TimesDaily: Is Rhonda Lee the bad part of your personality? Atkins: Yeah. Yeah. TimesDaily: The album has a classic, vintage feel. How was the recording process for you? Atkins: The writing process was probably what took the longest. When I was thinking about the sounds I was naturally drawn to and the sounds that I think I’m good at — it’s kind of soul music meets classic rock meets Roy Orbison-type of crooning. I was able to always write a couple of those types of songs on my records. This time around, I just wanted to take the time to figure out how to write all of them like that. It took some time. Now, it’s definitely something I’ve learned how to do. It’s not phoning it in, but it’s I want to write this type of song. It’s more of like being in the flow of something you keep practicing and practicing. Then, when we recorded it — we recorded it live in just four days. I met everybody who was playing on it that morning. It was kind of that blind trust to turn that over and just go for it. Thankfully, it worked out. TimesDaily: In addition to your vocals and lyrics, the composition and production feels just right. What role did Ben Tanner (Single Lock Records and Alabama Shakes) play on this album? Atkins: I love him. The producers were in Fort Worth (Texas) — a place called Niles City Sound. After I had the record finished, we started talking to Ben (Tanner), Will (Trapp), John Paul (White) and Reed (Watson) over at Single Lock. 116 E. Mobile was one of the first places I played when I moved down to Nashville. I just kept going back there and talking to them about possibly putting out the record. It just really felt right. When I was making the record, I kept referencing a lot of recordings from Muscle Shoals from the 1960s and 1970s. It just seemed like such a natural fit. Then I met up with Ben, and we worked for a few days. I kind of just gave him a general guideline of where to go with the mixes. I left him to do his work. I trusted him. What he sent back was just incredible. I didn’t think it could have sounded any better than it did and he did it. TimesDaily: Nicole, you’re very proud of this album, aren’t you? Atkins: I am. I’m super proud of it. Yeah. Also, the fact is, there were times I didn’t even think it would happen. That was the scariest thought I’ve ever had. I remember when I was making my first record, (2007’s “Neptune City”), I was living in a really (bad) warehouse in Charlotte, North Carolina. I was working random jobs, but I never had the thought that it wouldn’t happen. Now, I remember going to that place in my mind once and thinking, what if it doesn’t happen? But instantly, I thought, no, no, no — get that thought out of your head. With this one, I actually had that thought of, it’s just not going to happen. That led me into a tailspin of depression that actually was the fire I needed to make it happen. TimesDaily: You’re doing a show at 116 tonight — the day the album drops. That’s pretty special. Do you enjoy performing in Florence? Atkins: I do. It’s going to be great. It’s also the W.C. Handy Festival. So that’ll be cool to check out. I’ve never been. Everybody in Nashville is talking about it. I think there’s going to be a lot of roadtrippers. TimesDaily: The song, “A Dream Without Pain,” seems like an melancholy hope for your future. Are you there, yet? Are you in a dream without pain? Atkins: Yeah ... I would like to say, of course, but no. There’s always a little bit of pain in everything. It’s just learning how to deal with it better. So I would say, the pain isn’t as great now but it’s still there. TimesDaily: Have you thought about your next project? Atkins: I’ve been writing a lot of songs lately. That’s one of the good things about living in Nashville. I’ve constantly kept in the flow of writing. I’ve been writing some music for other people’s records. So that keeps me in the flow of working. I’ve gotten a handful of songs that I’m like, hmmm, maybe this could be on my next record. It’s exciting.
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