Nikki Lane

Nikki Lane reinvents the nostalgic sounds of 1960s country music for a modern audience, mixing Southern twang with lush orchestral arrangements and the occasional pop/rock hook. A high-school dropout from Greenville, South Carolina, she spent her early adulthood working as an L.A.-based fashion designer. Lane later moved to New York City, where a messy breakup inspired her to pick up the acoustic guitar and write a handful of sad, sassy country songs inspired by Loretta Lynn and Merle Haggard. What began as a form of self-therapy eventually developed into a full-time obsession, and Lane wound up leaving town again, this time returning to the American South by settling in Nashville.

Having relocated to the country music capital of the world, Lane began building a local audience by putting her own spin on the genre. The Gone, Gone, Gone EP, whose orchestral sound earned comparisons to mid-century icons (Tammy Wynette, Nancy Sinatra) and retro revivalists (She & Him, the Secret Sisters), appeared in July 2011, followed several months later by the full-length Walk of Shame.