Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers

Vocalist Bluhm, husband Tim, Deren Ney and Dave Mulligan on guitar, bassist Steve Adams and drummer Mike Curry recorded the videos on a cell phone to pass the travel time between gigs and to add to the band’s social media content. What happened next was overwhelming.

“[The] video for ‘I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)’ went viral [last March]. That was a very natural thing and wasn’t calculated,” Kasin, who co-manages the band with Bryan Duquette, told Pollstar. “I think [Nicki’s] authenticity and their laid-back [manner] just captured everyone. Their version of the song … was genuine and catchy. We heard from John Oates after that.”

That attention coincided with Kasin and Duquette’s plan with Another Planet Entertainment reps to form a management division. Both were impressed with what the San Francisco band accomplished on its own and Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers became the company’s flagship management act in April 2012.

Monterey International’s Joshua Knight, who also reps Tim Bluhm’s other band, The Mother Hips, started working with Nicki early on, and with Kasin and Duquette, has seen the potential become reality.

“I’ve seen them go from what was almost a glorified bar band to a real touring outfit,” Knight told Pollstar. “[Nicki’s] been working hard and still growing this thing on a grassroots level with people just digging her music.”    

Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers is touring the States through mid-October.