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Nikki was born in Clovis, New
Mexico and raised in the small
town of Farmington, New Mexico.
Music was a part of Nikki’s life
from the very beginning. Her
musical debut was at a Southern
Mississippi Baptist Church, where
her uncle was the pastor.
There she sang at the top of her 3
year old lungs "Jesus Loves Me."
Her introduction to music had
come much earlier, when her Dad
would play the fiddle over her
bassinette. Growing up in New
Mexico, Nikki’s first musical
influences came from her grandpa and her dad.
"My
earliest memories are of us,
(my grandpa, dad and a handful of
musicians) sitting around the living
room playing music all night long.
At first I hated it. Then the country
roots took hold and that’s the end
of that story."
These two
men, her Dad &
Grandpa, not only played music
because they were phenomenal
musicians, but because they loved it. That same love and desire
for
music was passed on to Nikki and
now runs through her veins.
"When I’m
home visiting, we catch
up on lost time singing and playing
every chance we get. We stay up
endless hours, fighting, writing and
playing music."
After
graduating from Farmington
High School in 1995, she headed
off to the University of New Mexico, where she earned a
Bachelor of Science degree in
Radiological Sciences. She
graduated with a GPA of 3.8 and
is a member of the Golden Key
National Honor Society.
Throughout
college, singing was all
she wanted to do. Fortunately, her
God-given gifts allowed her to
receive the scholarships she needed
to continue her core study in
Radiology. During college, Nikki
performed with UNM’s elite show
choir and landed her first big
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theatrical break, the lead in the
musical "The Unsinkable Molly Brown." Some of her college
highlights include opening for Billy
Ray Cyrus, with her college band
"Country Company," and being
selected to sing the National
Anthem at the "Lobo PIT," for an
audience of more than 18,000
basketball fans.
After college, Nikki lived in
Huntington Beach, CA, with her
extended family and their various
animals (including a potbelly pig).
In addition to her full-time career in an orthopedic office,
Nikki quickly
discovered that she could be on
stage every night at one of the many
open-mike contests around L.A.
This provided Nikki with a little extra spending cash, a lot of
friends
and some great exposure. Three
months into her new night-life, she
was approached to join a start-up
band. Nikki couldn’t refuse and
"Nikki Cole & the Coal Minors"
was born.
On
July 20th of 2002, Todd Bircher, Nikki’s long-time
boyfriend, asked her to marry him
and move to Seattle. She accepted
and within a week moved to
Seattle.
Shortly
after moving to Seattle, Nikki walked into The Little Red Hen on
Karaoke night and met Nathan. After singing a couple of songs,
Nathan offered her an audition for Latigo Lace.
The rest and the best parts of the
story are yet to come. |
