Pretty much anyone who has worked hard for their dreams but never forgotten where they came from...
Other artists that inspire me include Sara Bareilles, Colbie Caillat, A Fine Frenzy, Natasha Bedingfield, Taylor Swift, Jewel, Vanessa Carlton, Norah Jones, and Michelle Branch
Sounds Like
Soulful, energetic pop/rock. If you like Sara Bareilles, Pink, Fiona Apple, Alanis Morrisette, Sheryl Crow, or Natasha Bedingfield, you'll probably like this.
Brand new January 2009 album "From the Heart" now available through paypal and CD Baby. Available on iTunes soon!
"From the Heart" Reviews:
Talented young singer/songwriter Valerie Nicole is off to a great start with her newest CD "From The Heart." Her eclectic influences of both past and present musicians such as Tom Petty to Fiona Apple have helped Nicole develop a great knack for songwriting. The song "Meant To Be" could easily give competition to any Sara Bareilles song on the radio charts today. This track features some nice upbeat and flavorful chord progressions and shows the multi-talented side of Nicole as she performs vocals, guitar and keys. "Demons" is a very deep track filled with string arrangements painting a vivid and dark tonal color. Fans of Sara Bareilles or Fiona Apple will want this CD in their collection as it is filled with a nice mix of songs.
-Shaun and The RadioIndy.com Reviewer Team
Valerie Nicole’s 2007 debut EP, “Soul Searching”, introduced a young artist sharing her budding creative talents and aspirations. The four-song sampler conveyed a sense of innocence and a warm, girl-next-door charm. The Birdsboro-based songstress has honed her talents and done more soul searching as a songwriter and lyricist; Valerie’s artistic growth is reflected on her first full-length CD, “From The Heart”. Singing, playing piano and acoustic guitar, Valerie explores a variety of styles, moods and themes over the disc’s ten tracks; smoothly blending pop, folk, rock and country flavors along the way. Lifting and dropping with ease, Valerie’s voice is bright, clear and soulful; and she effectively wraps her voice around each melody to convey the intended mood. A song about love gone wrong, “Misunderstood” starts the album off on a serious tone, finishing with a flurry of layered vocal harmonies. The moods are brighter on the happy and romantic “Livin’ in the Moment” and “From the Heart,” the bouncy “Meant to Be,” the bluesy and dreamy “My Turn,” and the upbeat and hopeful “Live Your Dreams.” Valerie evokes a slightly spiteful emotion with “Naïve,” erupts with a more agitated tone on the rocking protest song “Wake Up,” and utilizes cello to paint darker colors on the abusive relationship study “His Love” and the disc-ending, Tori Amos-flavored “Demons,” about reaping what you sow. Although more fleshed out by the backing corps of drummer (and producer) Brian Potts, bassist Garrett Long and cellist Geoff Knorr; “From The Heart” still displays a nice simplicity, as the arrangements are basic and gently support Valerie’s voice and melodies, with layered vocal harmonies adding accents and emphasis. “From The Heart” is a clear step forward for Valerie Nicole, and successfully documents her maturation as a singer, songwriter and artist. (To obtain this CD, visit Valerie Nicole’s website, www.valerienicole.net.)
—reviewed by Jim Price of Altoona's Rocky 104.9
You can buy my 2007 4-song EP on-line! Includes: "Can't Imagine", "Fed Up", "You Never Really Loved Me", and "And She Sang". Recorded at HCD Studios in Parkville, MD. Musicians that contributed to the recording were: Brian Potts on drums, Garrett Long on bass guitar, and Justin Palanci on electric guitar.
Alpenhof Restaurant and Guesthouse - Reading, PA American MusicFest - Harrisburg, PA Auburn Road Vinyards - Pilesgrove, NJ Bertie's Inn - Reading, PA Bixler's Lodge - Reading, PA Blandon Lion's Club - Blandon, PA Boyertown Farmer's Market - Boyertown, PA Boyertown Hard Bean Cafe - Boyertown, PA Cape May Singer Songwriter - Cape May, NJ Carley's Ristorante and Piano Bar - Harrisburg, PA Carney's - Cape May, NJ Chile Pepper Food Fest - Bowers, PA Chambers 19 & The Other Side - Doylestown, PA Churchill Inc. - Pottstown, PA Cornerstone Coffeehouse - Camp Hill, PA Covatta's Brinton Lodge - Douglassville, PA Crave Coffee and Gelato - Womelsdorf, PA Creekside Cultural Center - Lenhartsville, PA Crocodile Rock Cafe - Allentown, PA Crossroads Coffee House - Roxborough/Manayunk, PA Dawson Street Pub - Philadelphia (Manayunk), PA The Draught Horse/Cherry Pit - Philadelphia, PA Ephrata Performing Arts Center - Ephrata, PA Evergreen Miniature Golf - Douglassville, PA Exspresso Yourself Cafe - Douglassville, PA Family Time Farm - Oley, PA The Flying Dog - Earlville, PA Fraternal Order of Eagles events - Stroudsburg, PA Freddy's Tavern - Bristol, PA Fredericksburg Eagle Hotel - Fredericksburg, PA Get the Word Out - Mt. Airy/Philly, PA Global Libations - Kutztown, PA Goggleworks - Reading, PA Greater Reading Expo - Reading, PA Gullifty's Underground - Camp Hill, PA Hard Bean Cafe - Hamburg, PA Harrisburg Civic Club - Harrisburg, PA It's A Grind Coffee House - Paoli, PA KatManDu - Trenton, NJ Kildare's - Philadelphia (Manayunk), PA Kutztown Folk Fest - Kutztown, PA Kutztown Optimist Club - Kutztown, PA Kutztown University - Kutztown, PA Lickety Split - Philadelphia, PA Marie's Hard Bean Cafe - Fleetwood, PA Max Crema's - Fleetwood, PA Millennium Music Conference - Harrisburg, PA Mid-Day Cafe - Reading, PA Molly Maguire's Pub - Phoenixville, PA Musikfest - Bethlehem, PA National Vigil for Hope Event - Scranton, PA Neena's Brick Oven - Sewell, NJ Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen Fine Craft Fair - Richboro, PA private parties - Berks County, PA private weddings - Berks County, PA Sample Somerville - Somerville, NJ Sidewalk Expo - Boyertown, PA Starbuck's - Wyomissing, PA Steel City Coffeehouse - Phoenixville, PA Stonersville Hotel - Birdsboro, PA Summit Bar & Grille - Macungie, PA William Penn Restaurant and Bar - Lebanon, PA Women's Show @ York Expo Center - York, PA
Valerie grew up in rural Birdsboro, PA, but always had her sights set on bigger and better things. She always jokes that she practically came out of the womb singing and knew at a very early age that music would be a significant part of her life. As a kid, she listened to The Beatles, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, and Aerosmith (her mom's favorite bands), which were a definite influence on her appreciation of music. She began singing in choirs at age 6, playing piano at age 7, and playing flute at age 8. Involvement in numerous music groups throughout her entire primary, intermediate, and high school years soon followed.
Her passion for music led to her decision to study music in college, where she received formal training in music theory, ear training, sight singing, and composition. This is when she picked up a guitar for the first time and fell in love with it. She also discovered her natural talent for songwriting shortly afterwards. After four years of hard work, she completed her Bachelor's of Music in Music Education from Elizabethtown College in 2005. She was even awarded the Theodore Presser Scholarship for outstanding achievement as a music major her junior year!
After graduation, she spent a few years teaching general/vocal music in the elementary schools, but decided teaching was not for her. So, she read everything and anything she could about the music business and jumped full-force into pursuing a career in music. After competing at the 2007 American Model and Talent Competition in Orlando, FL, she was awarded 3rd place in the singer/songwriter category. She also had her single "Can't Imagine" accepted by Indie Express to be on their Volume 1 CD in March 2008. This CD was distributed at Canadian Music Week as well as to press and radio stations in Australia! She has been featured in local eastern PA newspapers and radio stations such as The PA Musician, The Reading Eagle, Ticket Magazine (Montgomery Newspapers), Berks-Mont News, and WCHE 1520 AM.
Valerie Nicole writes and sings her own original pop/rock material and plays acoustic guitar and keyboard. She has been touring eastern PA and NJ since January 2008, including special showcases at Musikfest, Millennium Music Conference, and SS Cape May. She now performs with a back-up band. Her new album "From the Heart" was released on January 9th, 2009, which has opened up several opportunities for Valerie. She was recently nominated in the Best Female Vocalist category for the 717 Music Awards held in Harrisburg, PA this June.
Future projects in 2009 include a music video for "Misunderstood", recording her 3rd album in LA, and tv/film licensing opportunities.
The Rockers are offering Land of the Free as a free download during the Independence Day weekend as a gesture of support for the men and women of the United States Armed Forces and their families. We are releasing the song ahead of schedule to support our American heroes. God bless the USA!
Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the one's who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason.. If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it. Friends are like balloons; once you let them go, you can't get them back. So I'm gonna tie you to my heart so I never lose you. Send this to all your friends including me and see how many you get back. Send this balloon to everybody you like. You may also return it to me. If four balloons are returned to you, something you have been waiting for a long time will happen!!!! Believe me...... It really happens! Send a lot of little balloons
did you grow up there? if you did we grew up in similar enviornments.. you have two comments on this pic but it's saying that you have 0 comments..last I looked
Whats Good stoppin by to show sum love and announce 2 NEW SONGS!!! somethin for the ladies and somethin for the dudes and also to invite you to check out my page with tunz of free music downloads videos and songs to listen too show the love il ALWAYS GET BAK AT YOURS !!
let me know what you think SHOW SUM LOVE AND YOU ALREADY KNOW IL GET BACK AT YOU ;]
Thank you for the add and support, we are working hard to get the message of our music out there. Send me a comment or a message with what you think so far of our music. It will be a blessing to have that from you. Thanks again for your support.
Hey Valerie, Likewise! It was great to meet you and we're definitely looking forward to playing together again in the future. Good luck with everything... looks like you've got some great things going! -Ryan
Hey Valerie! Again it was great to see you and thanks so so much for saying hi and sticking around to catch our performance at May Rockfest, there are definitely going to have to be some Stasis/Valerie Nicole shows in the near future, best of luck with everything and we'll for sure be in touch to set some things up! Take care- -Stasis
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