Danielle Nicole

Danielle Nicole

Danielle Nicole Schnebelen is an American blues and soul singer and bassist from Kansas City, United States. She is known for solo work under her own name and for playing in Trampled Under Foot, the family band she forms with her brothers Kris and Nick Schnebelen.

Early life and family background

Nicole is born in 1983 in Kansas City. She comes from a family with several generations of singers. Her grandmother, Evelyn Skinner, is a big band singer, and her mother, Lisa Swedlund, helps shape her musical upbringing. She grows up listening to a wide range of music, including artists such as the Everly Brothers and the B-52s.

She begins performing as a child, singing for her family at holidays and taking tap, jazz and ballet lessons for many years while competing in various events. She also studies band in middle school and plays tenor saxophone, but stops after the family moves to Kansas City and her new school does not offer band.

Early performances and first bands

Nicole first sings on stage at the age of 12, performing Koko Taylor’s “Never Trust a Man” at a Blues for Schools programme at Englewood Elementary, where her parents are playing. She later sings in coffeehouses and at open-mic events from the age of 14, and also jams with her parents at clubs that allow minors.

At 16, she becomes the lead singer in her father’s band, Little Eva and the Works, until he becomes too ill to continue. In March 1999, she starts her own band, Fresh Brew, with Kansas City musicians Steve Gronemeyer, Steve Hicks, Chuck Payne and Terry Roney. The group performs for four years and represents Kansas City in the International Blues Challenge.

Trampled Under Foot

While playing with Fresh Brew, Nicole and her brothers begin discussing a family band that becomes Trampled Under Foot. To make that possible, she and Kris move to Philadelphia, where Nick is living, and she learns bass guitar so the group can remain a family act. She spends several years taking lessons and saving money before this becomes possible.

Trampled Under Foot releases several self-released albums before issuing Badlands on Telarc, a division of Concord Music Group. The album debuts at number one on Billboard’s Blues Chart, and the band tours the United States and Europe in support of it. The group continues for 13 years before winding down.

Solo career

After Trampled Under Foot begins to wind down, Nicole forms her own band and releases her self-titled solo debut EP in 2015. She then makes her Concord Records solo debut with Wolf Den, a New Orleans-influenced blues-soul album featuring producer-guitarist Anders Osborne, Galactic co-founding drummer Stanton Moore and keyboardist Mike “Shinetop, Jr.” Sedovic.

Awards and style

Nicole wins a Blues Music Award in 2014. Her work is described as blues and soul, and she is active as a singer, bassist and songwriter.