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Nikki Lane pon the Night Market stage at Lincoln Calling Sept. 24
Nikki Lane used her Lincoln Calling show on Saturday as a record-release celebration.
Nikki Lane got a bit of surprise when she rolled up 14th Street to the Night Market stage to play Lincoln Calling a couple of weeks ago.
“I like coming to a festival and being the toughest one there.” Lane said Monday. “I show up there in Lincoln and, first there’s Kiss The Tiger. And then Velveteers. I wasn’t going to be the toughest one that night. When the Velveteers were playing, I went down to the front and made my way through the people there.
"Wow. Lincoln brought the sauce that night.”
Lane and her band brought it as well, playing seven of the 10 songs on “Denim & Diamonds,” the record she’d released the day before.
I’d not heard the full album before her show, which landed in the sweet spot between rock ‘n’ roll and country. After listening to the album a few times, I told Lane that it's something between rock ‘n’ roll and country.
“That’s the spot for me throughout my career,” she said. “ I’ve finally got there on this record. I listened to rock ‘n’ roll. When I talk, it sounds country. I tell stories in my songs, so that’s (country), too. But I want to have an edge to it.”
I recently heard Elvis Presley's "That's Alright, Mama" on Sirius XM satellite radio and that's where he was, too — right between country and rock 'n' roll.
“I don’t deserve it, but to hear my name in any sentence that has Elvis in it is an honor," she said. "That’s kind of like Homme.”
Homme would be Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, who produced “Denim & Diamonds.” So how did Lane get Homme, who collaborated with Iggy Pop a few years back, to work on her record?
“My previous manager had the idea, he was kind of a music fan first … I was kind of like, ‘If you think you can get that guy on the phone, fine,’” Lane said. "I felt really lucky to get him during a time when we had so much time off and so little time. I got to have an edgier push to my music.”
That desire to be edgier came well before Lane teamed up with Homme. After recovering from a too-long stint on the road that was ended by COVID-19, the “Highway Queen” started writing new songs, among them, the pulsing, hook-filled, Stones riff-driven, Springsteen name-dropping rocker “First High.”
But she said Homme inspired her to get edgier.
“You’ve just got to lean into it more and more,” Lane said. “That’s fun to be able to find inspiration in someone’s art as a muse for the new project."
It was really fun to work with a bunch of artists I didn’t know — ‘Will they like me? I like me.’ I’ve been really lucky with my producers Dan (Auerbach), Dave Cobb and Josh, they pick the right people and the key is to go for it.”
Lane’s Lincoln run-through of her new songs started with the country rockin’ “Born Tough” and included “Good Enough,” a sweet song based on her grandparents' lifelong relationship — “I decided I should write at least two love songs in my career,” she quipped.
Also getting some outdoor airplay in Lincoln were the gently rocking, inspirational “Try a Little Harder,” the straight-up rock ‘n’ roll of “Black Widow" and the swaggering title cut, a song of independence.
“The thing I’ve seen is a lot of songs start from my standpoint, then shift to the people who are going through it, what they’re doing,” she said. “It’s like the movie ‘Big Fish,’ which is one of my favorites, telling a big story through real stuff.
“In my family that’s kind of what our life has been, a little over the top. Nikki Lane is the character that came from being a real girl, who couldn’t control all these little things but found a way through. I use it to my advantage.”
Lane has been called the Queen of Outlaw Country and is an annual hit at the Americana Music Awards and Festival.
“My dad’s friends listen to the radio,” she said. “They haven’t even made it to Sirius XM. … When I go to Montana and the fishing guides are listening to Cody Jinks and (Chris) Stapleton, which they’ve heard on the radio, it gives you a bridge to them, that I’m similar. What I know is I’m not pop country. Outlaw or Americana helps tell people that.”
As she wrapped up her show, Lane made a remark about musicians coming to Lincoln to ‘buy up all your antiques. At least that’s what I did.”
“I did really good,” she said Monday of her antique shopping. “I drove from Omaha. I know the route, Brass Armadillo, Aardvark … whatever. Up in your region, I find so much good stuff, I need my own trailer. I have to find places to store it before I can get it to the store.”
The store is High Class Hillbilly, the Nashville shop she’s run for a decade that handles vintage clothing and Americana, including stuff she’s picked up on tour. Lane, who wears eye-catching vintage outfits on stage, has kept High Class Hillbilly going, even though she’s spending less and less time in Music City.
“I really like being able to put my heart into something good,” she said. “I know the store’s good. The music career, I felt a lot of uncertainty. I kept the store just in case. Now I keep it just because.”
Lane had a couple of days off at her Nashville home, where she was resting up and trying to get over the allergies that hit her over the last week — “If we were out I’d have had to cancel the show tonight,’ she said. "My voice is shot.”
She’s slated to get back at it this weekend with a pair of shows at LA’s Greek Theatre before getting back in her vehicle — she drives separately from the band to do her antiquing — for a tour that will run through the end of the year.
The closest she’ll come to Lincoln is Des Moines, Iowa, in December. She was quick to say she’d be back in Nebraska in 2023.
Luke Bryan performs during his concert Thursday at the Stock Hay & Grain Farm near Murdock.
Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday at Stock Hay & Grain Farm near Murdock.
Luke Bryan brought his annual Farm Tour to the Stock Hay & Grain Farm near Murdock on Thursday.
Fans watch as Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Fans raise their drinks into the air as Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Fans wave signs toward Luke Bryan as he performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
A young fan is lifted above the crowd for a better view as Luke Bryan perform during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
A drummer for Luke Bryan performs during the 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Fans cheer as Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Riley Green performs during Luke Bryan's 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
A crowd in the pit gathers as they wait for Luke Bryan to perform during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Fans gather in a large field and watch from lawn chairs as The Peach Pickers perform during Luke Bryan's 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Riley Green performs during Luke Bryan's 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
A fan waves a hat in anticipation for a performance by Luke Bryan during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Fans hold up their phone flashlights and sway to the music as Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Luke Bryan performs during his 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Riley Green performs during Luke Bryan's 2022 Farm Tour show on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022, at Stock Hay & Grain Farm in Murdock.
Reach the writer at 402-473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com. On Twitter @KentWolgamott
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L. Kent Wolgamott, the recipient of the 2018 Mayor’s Arts Award, has written about arts and entertainment for Lincoln newspapers since 1985, reviewing thousands of movies and concerts and hundreds of art exhibitions.
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Nikki Lane pon the Night Market stage at Lincoln Calling Sept. 24
Nikki Lane used her Lincoln Calling show on Saturday as a record-release celebration.
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