Nikki Lane

Her record label is based in Los Angeles, her agent is a New Yorker, but her sound is straight-up honkytonk.

“Her whole vibe makes me think of Loretta Lynn fronting Waylon Jennings’ band,” The Agency Group’s Dave Kaplan told Pollstar. “If she’s going to get lumped in somewhere, it would probably be as an Americana act, slightly more than as a straight country artist, if what you mean by country is sitting on the back of a GMC pickup singing. I find it slightly ironic because to my mind she is a country artist.”

And she fits the Waylon Jennings/outlaw old school, with songs like “Sleep With A Stranger,” “You Can’t Talk To Me Like That,” and “Wild One.” But Lane definitely comes to country from out of left field.

The South Carolina native lived in Los Angeles and New York City while her boyfriend followed his musical dreams. When they split, she headed for Nashville to create some dreams of her own. She is said to have met The Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach – who produced her second album, All Or Nothin’ – at an East Nashville flea market, and initially didn’t even mention she was a musician.

Or it could have been in the vintage clothing store Lane owned; even Kaplan – who also reps Auerbach and The Black Keys – isn’t sure. But Auerbach eventually brought his agent some of her demos, and Kaplan didn’t hesitate to sign her. Now, his job is to get her in front of audiences and let her do the rest.

“Our approach is twofold,” Kaplan said. “We’ve put in a heavy dose of support touring. The thing about Nikki is she’s really good, so when you submit her for tours, people want to take her out. We definitely want to get her out to headline small clubs, too.

“If you just support, you can’t find your own audience. We’ve booked a good cross section of festivals. She just did Stagecoach. She went out with the Old 97s, and is about to go out with Jenny Lewis. Then she’ll be out all summer with Social Distortion. She fits with a lot of stuff and that helps.”