We recently connected with Nicole Croteau and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I sat down in my 2 story house in Whitefish Montana with tears rolling down my face. 13 years old and experiencing my first “heartbreak,” or so I thought. I didn’t know what to do with the constant flow of emotions and thoughts running through my head. At the edge of my bed leaned my moms nylon string guitar she had from when she was a kid. I picked it up and started plucking around on it. I had some back round in music because I had been in piano and voice lessons since I was a child and my older brother and my dad both play multiple instruments. I found a couple of chords I liked and I just poured my heart out for an hour or so. That day I wrote my first full song. It was called “Thirsty Roots.” Songwriting has always been a therapy for me. Just a couple years later I played that same song in a Country music competition called the “Colgate Country Showdown” and I came in 3rd place with my younger sister, Olivia. We had to play on a stage in front of hundreds of people and I knew from that moment on I wanted to pursue music as a career.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I grew up in a tiny town in Montana. Just like any other small town, you only had a few options for hobbies. I spent most of my time outside or in the arts. Singing on my church worship team from the time I was a child, dance classes, plays at school or wherever else I could perform. I went to college for 1 year in South Carolina, at a private school and that year I realized the traditional college trajectory wasn’t for me. I moved across the country to L.A. and 3 months later I had signed my first record deal on a label called Dream Records. It was a great experience and I learned so much in those 3 years. I was only 19 years old, traveling all over the country, even overseas. I was stretched in my talent and my growth was immense. I realized the industry I was in, which at the time was actually Christian/crossover music was not where my heart was. I moved to Nashville in the end of 2012, to pursue a career in the country music industry. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be an artist still or just a songwriter at the time but I figured that would become clear eventually. The last 10 years in Nashville have been full of ups and downs and curveballs. Truthfully for the first few years here I was just getting my bearings in a new city with new friends so I wasn’t able to focus as much on music as I had hoped but I do believe timing is everything. Eventually I started finding my people and playing songwriter rounds all over town. I now am a a full-time songwriter and I am actually going into the studio in May to record 4 songs for an artist project I am working on for myself. I have had songs on editorial playlists on Spotify and Apple music such as “Down For It” by Willie Jones and I work with some of county musics most promising up and coming artists and have a lot of really exciting stuff coming up for 2023. I truthfully love what I do and I am so grateful everyday I wake up to have the gift of music to connect with people. Music has truly given me so much hope and purpose and my goal is to bring that to everyone who hears a song that I have been a part of. Music is a tool for healing.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Truly as an artist you cannot succeed without a support system. A small thing can go a very long way. We need people to pre-save our music so that on release day in can get more attention from streaming platforms. Things like re-posting, sharing, liking and commenting on our content and of course sharing it with friends and family!! Buying a ticket or tipping the band, even buying merch online. This all makes such a huge difference for us. One thing I am extremely passionate about is the current laws regarding what songwriters get paid on streaming platforms. We have been fighting a hard fight to modernize what that legal and payment structure looks like. Right now we basically make nothing on streams. So spreading awareness on that subject so that the people who create something that is such a massive part of our day to day lives can actually make a living and be able to pour their heart and soul into it. So many of my friends including myself at times have had to work multiple jobs to support ourselves while trying to balance time to still create.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Truly my goal in life is to bring light and hope to as many people I can. Music is my way of doing that. If i can connect somehow with you through a lyric or even a melody then I am doing my job right and full-filling my purpose.

Contact Info:

• Website: nicolecroteau.com
• Instagram: nicolecroteau
• Facebook: nicole croteau
• Twitter: nicolelcroteau
• Youtube: nicole croteau music

Image Credits
Charly Reynolds, Marcella Fiorenzi