"First solo country album reflects local musician Nicolen's serious side"
(Written by Todd Gotula. Reprinted by permission from The Kearney Hub, Thursday, December 7th, 2000)
Local music fans have been listening to Mike Nicolen perform since he moved to Kearney seven years ago. The 33 year old former lead singer of local band Blue Mesa went solo 1 1/2 years ago and he now performs at Ft. Kearny Inn and other venues in the state as Mike Nicolen & The Lost Sidemen
Following three years of recording, 12 years of songwriting and over $7000 in expenses, Nicolen has finally accomplished his dream of recording his first solo album. Nicolen will celebrate his debut disc tonight at 8pm with a release party at Ft. Kearny Inn. Nicolen, who recorded the 12 track, 49-minute country music disc at Upper Room Studios in Kearney, finished recording in August. "It's been a long wait. Some of the songs were written 10 years ago, so I am a little bit ashamed it has taken this long to get recorded," admitted Nicolen,"but my dream has always been to record and market my music,"
"This is the first step in what I hope will become something big. Getting noticed is every musician's dream. I don't expect to become rich and famous, but I hope to build a bigger following."
Joining Nicolen on his debut disc are five Kearney musicians; guitarist Larry Bressington, former Blue Mesa drummer Dave Christiansen, current Blue Mesa member Joel Fought and OK Sisters drummer Steve Main. Keyboardist Jim Hiner, who is Nicolen's neighbor, also plays piano on three songs.
Nicolen's songs are well crafted, and the production is good. His lyrics are full of emotion and often focus on broken relationships from other periods of his life, While Nicolen's voice tends to have too much country twang at times, the songwriting is remarkable for a local musician. "Most of the songs are about personal experiences. They definitely show my serious side" Nicolen said, "I get pretty personal at times. I guess when I wrote a lot of these songs it was my way of therapy for relationships that went bad."
Sometimes you realize the more you love somebody, the less they like you. A lot of my songs talk about that."
The strongest song on this disc, and the song that will most likely receive the most radio airplay, is the first track, "Didn't Even Think Twice." "That song isn't really about a personal experience, but I had that hook in my head for a long time." Nicolen said. "A friend of mine used to always say he wouldn't think twice, and I always joked with him that I wouldn't even think once."
Nicolen's release also features the singles "Don't Lie To Me" a ballad about the deterioration of a couple, and the up-tempo "She Wants To Be Friends" and "The Rounder." On "The Rounder," Nicolen Shows flashes of that uptempo rock-n-roll edge his former Blue Mesa fans will recognize.
"My Dad and Grandpa always used the word rounder about people who were dishonest and moved around a lot," said Nicolen, "I also heard it used when I worked at a factory in Ohio. People at low-paying factories who didn't hang around long were called rounders."
The sixth track, "A Can That Just Says Beer," was written by Nicolen six years ago in a hotel room at Fort Kearny Inn. The song has one of the best lines on the disc; "The only thing she left me is the reason that I'm here, I got a note that says it's over and a can that just says beer."
The disc would be better if it had some backup vocals, but Nicolen proves with this release that he is more than just a local musician trying top get rid of a box of compact discs in his garage. He is well known in Kearney and Nicolen appears to be well on his way to hitting the radio airwaves and making a mark outside of the area. Nicolen's ability as a vocalist is exemplary, but the personalization of the songs and his touching lyrics make it a piece country music fans will want to listen to over and over again.
_____________________________________________________________
This review appeared last November courtesy of Ed Floden on his website called C.W. McCall; An American Legend My father was a huge C.W McCall fan ever since he heard the song 'Wolf Creek Pass' on the radio coming home from work one night. I still remember him telling my mom all about it almost word-for-word. My dad doesn't get excited about too much, nut he liked that song, so mom went out and bought the record for him. We bought all his subsequent records too, and when he hit it BIG with 'Convoy' we felt like our boy had finally made it.
I emailed Ed Floden to tell him how much I liked his site and what a big C.W. McCall fan I am. We corresponded a few times, Ed ordered 2 of my CD's, and the next thing I knew this review was on his site. Thanks for letting me reprint this on my website, Ed, sorry it took me two months to find it !
Somewhere in a bar near Kearney, Nebraska, Mike Nicolen is playing guitar with his band, The Lost Sidemen. But if you were looking at the stage, you'd see only Mike, because the Lost Sidemen are a Yamaha QY700 Sequencer, a Digitech Harmony Vocalist and a Yamaha REX50. Yeah, Mike's a one-man band with low union overhead.
But on Mike's eponymous debut CD, "Mike Nicolen", The Lost Sidemen stayed on the side and Mike used some real musicians to record twelve songs about life, love, trucks and beer, not necessarily in that order of importance.
This isn't a "big label" release. Mike Nicolen is his own record company; and what better way to keep the profits than to publish your own record?
Mike wrote all of the songs and plays rhythm and lead guitar. He sounds a bit like Hank Williams, Jr., and his songs aren't the flashy type that seem to rule the playlist at CMT. There are a lot of broken hearts on this album (and one broken truck) but nothing that'll make you cry. Well, maybe "She Wants To Be Friends" will.
My personal favorites:
• "Covered Wagon" is a bit like C.W. McCall, bemoaning the invasion of the Interstate and the loss of the old local stops along the state and U.S. highways.
• "Uncle Sam" is the story of a freeloader living on welfare, because the benefits are better than what he can get from working. But there's a Burger King in his future.
• Milwaukee may have made it famous, but "A Can That Just Says Beer" is a warning against trying to drink away your troubles with generic brew.
• As for the broken truck, it's just part of "Can't Rev 'Em Cold", about the danger of an insufficiently warmed-up woman, uh, engine.
You can check out four of the songs from the CD — "Didn't Think Twice", "She Wants To Be Friends", "Evelyn", and "Don't Lie To Me" — at MP3.com.
When you're in the Kearney area, check Mike's web site for his schedule of appearances, some pictures of The Lost Sidemen, and of the places where Mike has played (he seems to have a fondness for having his picture taken next to the marquee that advertises his gig).
If you want a copy of Mike's CD, don't bother shopping at CDnow or Amazon.com because you can get a copy only from Mike himself. The cost is $18.00 per CD ($15.00, plus $3.00 shipping), money orders only. Drop a line to Mike and he'll tell you where to send your order.
[To those who may be wondering: yes, I bought my copy (two of them, actually). — Ed.]