By Joshua Ryan Hall

With her dramatic, fiery mane immediately giving her away, I watched as singer/songwriter Nina Storey stepped off of the jet-way at Indianapolis International Airport. True to her hailing region, Nina wore frayed chinos and well-worn sandals that somehow said more about Colorado comfort than anti-establishment. And her "Hoodie," an aged and oversized hooded sweatshirt, which I later learned was the very garment sung about in "Up My Sleeves" from her self-titled album, completed Nina's approachable, girl-next-door look.

It had been just two weeks since I was first introduced to Nina's eclectic musical blend of rock, jazz, folk, funk, R&B and blues. I had spent nearly every waking moment since then listening to 1997's Shades and Nina's new self-titled CD.

"With a voice like hers pyrotechnics are redundant," wrote Steve Dougherty of People Magazine. The Denver Post called her a "soulful sparkplug," and Nina's powerful, yet sultry vocals have been compared to greats such as Janis Joplin, Chakka Kahn, Tori Amos, Whitney Houston and Billie Holiday. While I seldom care to match up new artists to their closest famous counterparts, I did find myself agreeing with the reviewers, and I even made a few comparisons of my own. But more than anything else, I discovered that Nina Storey is an entertaining and engaging talent who's diverse influences make her music familiar and unique at the same time.

Downloads and "Places to Buy"

Download an MP3 file of "Be With You Tonight" from Nina's new self-titled album.

Click here to buy the new self-titled album from Nina Storey. Previous Nina Storey albums, such as Shades, Bootleg and Guilt and Honey are available from Amazon.com.

Discography and History
Information gathered from www.ninastorey.com

Nina Storey released her first CD Guilt and Honey in 1993. This record reflected her talents as a singer/songwriter combining acoustic rock, folk and blues. Nina began touring extensively throughout Colorado eventually branching out to other parts of the country. By the winter of 1994, Nina had toured Europe twice. On her own independent label, Red Lady Records, she then released the live CD Bootleg. This second record showcased Nina's overwhelming ability to perform live and reflected her maturing musical style incorporating blues, funk, alternative rock and jazz. Nina then began to open for many nationally acclaimed artists such as Etta James, Earth Wind and Fire, Keb' Mo', The Allman Brothers, Los Lobos, Joan Osborne and John Lee Hooker.

In the beginning of 1997, Nina sang back-up vocals with INXS for VH-1. Nina then released the CD, Shades and since its release Nina has performed in major festivals around the country including Lilith Fair, Woodstock '99, Santa Cruz Blues Festival, Montreal International Jazz Festival, and The New Orleans Jazz Festival, where she was selected as one of the ten best acts of the festival. Nina has also sung the National Anthem for sports teams across the country such as the Chicago Bulls, the Denver Broncos, including Monday Night Football and the AFC Championship game. She also performed for an audience of 250,000 during the Denver Bronco's Super Bowl Celebration.

In the winter of 1999 Nina toured with Jonny Lang where she was greatly received. She was then featured on CNN Showbiz Today, MTV Online and Rolling Stone Online. Two of Colorado's largest publications, The Westword and 5280 Magazine also awarded Nina as the top vocalist in the state.

Shades was re-released nationally in February 2000 with distribution through Navarre. The ABC hit television show Alias has used "If I Were An Angel" from Nina's Shades CD. Four additional tracks off of Shades can be heard in the films, Broken Hearts Club (Sony Pictures), and Public/Private (North Sea Films).

Nina's new self-titled CD released in February 2002 under her own production company, Nina Storey Music. Her list of impressive concert venues grew this summer with a show at Colorado's own Red Rocks Amphitheater, voted the country's number one outdoor venue.

LATEST UPDATE: Totally Adult, a monthly music industry trade magazine distributed by The Album Network, featured Nina Storey in the February 8, 2002 issue and mailed her new self-titled CD to all Totally Adult subscribers. This means that more than 150 adult rock stations across the U.S., major record labels and retail outlets are on their way to discovering what Klipsch already knows - Nina is a HOT emerging artist!!!

The Interview with Nina Storey

Having struggled through countless theory classes as a one-time music major in college, I am, to this day, amazed by the creative process and those individuals who can successfully emerge from it with art. I ask Nina to describe her creative process and how she goes about writing songs.

"Sometimes I'll get an idea that's just based on a percussion groove or I'll hear some chords or come up with a new melody. Song ideas just sort of hit me in the head," says Nina. "Sometimes ideas come quickly and I'll complete an entire piece in a couple of hours. At other times, I'll get an idea and think it's a good, but I know I need to develop it more, and that is where the real work comes in. It's like homework. I think inspiration is easy. It is always flying around you in the universe so you just have to open your eyes to it and reach out and grab it. But nurturing it and making it a complete piece takes more work. Taking inspiration all the way to a complete piece takes discipline."

"Are the songs you write based more on personal experiences or observations?" I ask.

"It really depends," explains Nina. "Sometimes it's personal. Sometimes it's fiction. I base song ideas on things that I read in the paper, in books, on the news and even on my family. Sometimes I'll sing a song in first person, but it's totally not about me. Some stories need to be told in first person because it's a much more personal place to be. And sometimes third person is safer because you can distance yourself from the situation that way."

"I know that in the last year you taught yourself how to play the piano. Was that part of some overarching musical goal or was it just a whim?"

"Well, I have always written on the piano, but I didn't quite have the chops for performing on the piano in front of people," Nina confesses. "I knew that if I wanted to become more independent, I was going to have to stop allowing myself to be at the mercy of other musicians. I wanted to express myself on a more musical level in terms of technique and orchestration. The more tools you have to facilitate what is inside of you, the more expressive the results will be."

I ask Nina how she feels about fame.

"Well, I don't really think I have fame," says Nina. "I don't think fame applies to me. I am in the trenches doing my thing. I am definitely not cruising around doing whatever it is that famous people do."

Clarifying, I explain that I'm talking about fame in a good sense. The kind of fame where people know you, and appreciate your music. "How do you feel about that?" I ask. "Is it something you want or is it simply a side effect of doing your music?"

"I think it's awesome in that sense," replies Nina. "I think it's incredibly validating. I'm so excited when I write a new piece and get to sing it and play it. I'm like 'woo-hoo' this is great! Then to take it to the next level and share it with other people and have the response be positive. I think that is what everybody strives for in this business. I am proud of what I do, and if it is not accepted that's okay, too. When you create something new, you have to assume that it will be misunderstood in a lot of ways and you have to be okay with that. But when people are totally tuned into what you are saying it's incredibly rewarding. That's one of the reasons I love to perform live because I feed off of the energy that people put out. Even if it's a small group of people and they are totally feeling you and giving back that energy that you are putting out, it is an incredible experience. I feel lucky to be able to do that."

Continuing with her comments on performing live, I ask Nina what she hopes for in an audience.

"I love it when people are vocal," says Nina. "There is this intensity you can feel. There is an intense power every time you evoke a collective emotion from a large group of people. It's huge. It's like you are being filled with helium, you just feel completely alive. I just want people to be willing to listen to what I'm saying. That's pretty much all I ask for in an audience."

"I know that you've performed as the opening act for some impressive headliners. What can you tell me about those experiences?" I ask.

"They were all fantastic," exclaims Nina. "Having the opportunity to play with larger, more well-known acts is great because it gives exposure to the built-in crowd. It's actually stupid-funny how this whole Klipsch connection has turned into a six degrees of separation experiment for me. You know how you end up involved in some interesting circles of people? I've toured with Jonny Lang and Keb' Mo' and Kenny Aronoff sat in with my band at a show once, and they all have connections to Klipsch, too. At some point you just have to admit that there are bigger things at play here."

Before getting the chance to move on to the next question, Nina jumped back in with her personal take on the Klipsch brand.

"Speaking of Klipsch, you guys make the most amazing equipment," declares Nina. "It's so sensitive that you get to hear the small beautiful things and the delicacies of sound that other speakers cover up. My dad, who's also my engineer, and I are lifelong Klipsch fanatics. So many things that you do in the studio are meant to be heard in a very subtle way. If you don't have good quality speakers, you miss out on all the nuances."

Next, I ask Nina to tell me about some of her musical influences.

"I grew up listening to a lot of different music - The Beatles, Billy Joel, Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Prince, and a lot of classical," remembers Nina. "I listened to all kinds of music when I was little. There's a lot of diversity in my influences. I'm just blown away by the scope and depth of what it is they are expressing. Whether it's through their writing, or vocals, or melodies, there are just so many different choices.

Nina's use of the word "diverse" prompts a new question from me about her own diversity of musical styles. I ask: "Do you strive to achieve a certain level of diversity or is it just a diverse array of musical creativity that naturally comes from you?"

"You know, diversity is a blessing and a curse," explains Nina. "I get some criticism from industry folks who think I'm trying to do too many things, or that I don't know how to focus, which is totally not true. Trying to homogenize my music so it all sounds the same wouldn't be true to who I am and what's inside me. But it is not my intention to try and be cool with all these different styles of music either. I just can't help it. I just feed off of my environment and you get what you get."

"Then how would you categorize yourself?" I ask.

"I guess if I had to choose a category I would say eclectic or sophisticated pop," reluctantly states Nina. "I always have something to say in my music, but at the same time I don't want it to be work for anybody to listen to. I want it to be enjoyable. I mean, it can be disturbing, it can be edgy, it can make you laugh, it can be unsettling, but I never want it to seem contrived. I just want it to be honest, no matter what it is."

"You seem to really have your way with words. Does each song have an overriding message or is it chance that I find some interesting political and social commentaries?"

"Historically, we, the court jesters, were the people that got away with saying the most political things because it was said in such a comical manner," says Nina. "But there were serious undertones. I do write phrases with a double entendre in mind. I think for any type of artist or writer, when you are putting your work out there in public you have the opportunity and the responsibility in a lot of ways to really say it how it is."

Wrapping up the interview, I ask Nina if there is anything about her that people would find shocking or be surprised about.

Very quickly, Nina replies: "I'm a goofy nerd. I'm a big nerd and I am totally square. On this new record, I wanted to show that I've grown, but at the same time I really wanted to be more whimsical, I wanted my humor to come out. I'm a serious musician, but I think it's important to not to take everything so seriously. There are so many tragic things happening in the world that you have to be able to embrace the little quirky, crazy things in order to be okay."

"Amen, sister," I say. "Let's hear it for all the nerdy goofs!"

"That's the best way to be," says Nina. "What's interesting about trying to be cool? Please, the nerdy goofs are the ones that end up being cool in the end anyway, right?"