Who Is Elizabeth Nichols? The Story Behind Her Journey to Country Music

Every now and then you come across an artist that has undeniable, raw talent. Elizabeth Nichols is that girl. Despite not knowing music was in the cards for her until recent years, the songstress is an incredible songwriter and story-teller with vocals to back it up. We chatted with the singer-songwriter all about her music career, her new songs, and of course, where’s she headed. Keep reading to learn more!

Nichols was born in Plano, Texas, but spent her formative years in Louisville, Kentucky with her family. A daughter and a granddaughter of a pastor, the singer was always surrounded by music. “I grew up singing in church and listening to a lot of gospel music. […] I also listened to a lot of country music. My family all loved a lot of country music.”

She recalls even wanting to be Hannah Montana at an early age. “When I was nine, I wanted to be Hannah Montana. I was her for three halloweens in a row, and then once I hit school aged, it was not my plan, I did not think it was in the cards for me,” she shared.

Although she didn’t grow up with a fully-fleshed out dream to be an artist, Nichols was always a writer and story-teller, finding inspiration in artist and their lyrics. “I love Toby Keith. I think he is so funny and uses humor in his lyrics so well. I think country is kind of a funny genre. It doesn’t always need to be so serious. I love Kacey Musgraves, I think she’s so clever with her lyricism, I love Miranda Lambert, big fan. I love John Prine. I think I really gravitate towards lyricism and clever lyrics. […] I think it’s funny because in my songs, even the gospel songs that I listen to growing up, comes out in the harmonies. I love funky, cool, harmonies, and stacking those, and building choir. I think that’s there too.”

The Turning Point:

Upon graduating high-school, Nichols attended college in Oklahoma, where she eventually connected back to her early days as a music lover. “I was a writing major in college, English writing, I graduated in 2022, and I did my masters in accounting in Australia, and I was there, but I was missing writing,” she shared, adding, “I was missing home so much, I get homesick. I love America, I was very homesick. I would write these country songs because I was missing home, and there was these boys that I was talking to in Oklahoma, and they’d make me angry, and I though it was fun writing songs about them.”

Although she had never written a song before, she started to process her emotions through song-writing. “I couldn’t play them for anyone, so I made a TikTok account, and I blocked everyone I knew, and made it my first name and my middle name, so no one could find it, and I just started posting on there,” shared the songstress. “I remember when my first video that actually got views, I was like “oh no, they are going to find this.” I’ve gotten over that though for sure. I’ve had to.”

With just a year of writing under her belt, Nichols made the move to Nashville, Tennessee. After Kelly Clarkson sang her song on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Nichols quickly shifted gears and her sole focus became her music career. “I always loved school, and I thought I was going to just do that, but it’s all a blessing. I like this a lot more.”

Today:

It may be hard to believe, but Nichols has already released her debut EP. Tough Love features her viral song, “I Got A New One” and six other songs. The record as a whole features two solo writes and Nichols is a writer on every single track, an impressive feat for a newcomer.

“‘Tough Love’ is cool because it’s a collection of the the last year and a half, and my journey of songwriting. The first seven months that I was writing was home in Oklahoma by myself. I didn’t even know co-writes were a thing,” shared Nichols. “There’s a few songs on there that I wrote alone before I ever knew anything about anything. It’s cool to kind of see the progression like the first song whenever I moved to Nashville was “I Got A New One,” and then songs I wrote a few weeks before the project came out are on there.”

When it comes to “I Got A New One,” the track was inspired by the singer’s knack for story-telling. “”I Got A New One” was my first co-write moving here, I came in, and I had this idea. I kind of look at songs as stories, so I go in with an idea, and I always kind of have a plot of where I want it to go, and what I want to happen because I’m so used to writing books and short-stories, and that kind of writing, and you always start with a roadmap,” she explained.

“So I knew that I wanted the first verse to be I’m fighting with my boyfriend, he doesn’t like what I’m wearing and I knew I wanted to be like so I got a new one, and you think it’s the dress, but you know. So we took that, and I had that idea and that storyline, and we made that music. I also knew that I wanted the chorus to be different guys. It’s just a bit different. […] We took a chance, and we did what the song needed, and that’s what was best for that song.”

This is truly just the beginning for Nichols. She plans to build on this momentum, adding shows to her tour schedule, as well as, continually working on new music for fans. “There’s never a lack of music. There’s always too much which is a good problem to have.” We’re gong to keep giving people songs that I love, and I’m excited for people to hear. It’s an honor.”

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