East Nashville country outlaw Nikki Lane is playing her final hometown show for awhile tonight at City Winery, as after a year of heavy touring that included a crazy surprise show at the American Legion Post 82 during Americana Fest she’s finally getting back into the studio to record the follow-up to 2014’s Dan Auerbach-produced All or Nothin’. That record was named our number one Nashville album of 2014 and we’ve been waiting on her next one throughout this year. So a break in shows will be worth a new album, but we definitely won’t be missing the hell-raising authentic country singer at City Winery tonight if it’s promised to be her last show in Nashville for a bit. The almost sold out City Winery gig starts at 8 p.m. with opener Jonathan Tyler, costs $18-$25, and will be a sit-down affair for those not familiar with the swanky venue, so don’t worry about getting too partied out the night before New Year’s Eve.
Read on to find out more about Lane if you’re late to discovering one of our town’s best country singer-songwriters.
NIKKI LANE
Nikki Lane is doing classic country music in the vein of the genre’s headstrong and fearless women like Loretta Lynn as well as its gun-toting, pot-smoking outlaws like Willy Nelson. Like many country artists that call the east side of the Cumberland home, she’s been labeled too country for the country music establishment and is more likely to be called “Americana” or to play shows with rock acts than to have anything to do with the genre that most accurately describes her music. The new songs she’s been doing on tour, like the yodeling battle cry against Music Row “700,000 Rednecks,” are even better than what’s on her last record, so needless to say we can’t wait for the next one.
JONATHAN TYLER
Jonathan Tyler is a Dallas-based singer-songwriter with similar country leanings as Lane, but with Texas-style blues and western folk thrown in. He and Lane have some history, as the pair have toured together and she sings on the track “To Love is to Fly” from his most recent record Holy Smokes. Her sad country twang lends itself perfectly to a track about reckless love.
Nikki Lane and Jonathan Tyler will perform Wednesday, Dec. 30 at City Winery. The show is all ages, begins at at 8 p.m. (doors at 6 p.m. if you’re looking for dinner beforehand), and limited tickets are still available for $18-$25.