Nicki Bluhm - The Beat Goes On (2023)

San Francisco-based vocalist Nicki Bluhm has built a career making music steeped in country, R&B, and blues-infused rock, both as a solo act or with her band the Gramblers. Bluhm's vocal style is impassioned but well-modulated, possessing a soulful expressiveness born of a knack for bringing out the natural emotions of her songs. Bluhm's career began in earnest when she co-founded the band the Gramblers with her then-husband Tim Bluhm, of the Mother Hips. Her first two albums with the group, Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers (2012) and Loved Wild Lost (2015), were confident, expressive efforts that quickly won her a loyal following. When Nicki and Tim broke up, she went solo with 2018's deeply personal To Rise You Gotta Fall, while 2022's Avondale Drive saw her picking up the pieces and moving forward with her life.

Born on September 22, 1979 in Lafayette, a community in Northern California, Nicki Bluhm began singing as a teenager in the San Francisco Bay Area, and while attending college in San Diego she began playing guitar. She was backstage at a concert by the band the Mother Hips when she met Tim Bluhm, the group's guitarist. The two hit it off both musically and personally; Tim married Nicki and produced her first two solo efforts, 2008's Toby's Song and 2011's Driftwood. The couple also recorded a duo project, 2011's Duets.

In 2006, while putting together a live ensemble to promote Toby's Song, Nicki Bluhm formed the Gramblers with various Bay Area musicians, including guitarists Dave Mulligan and Deren Ney, bassist Steve Adams, and drummer Mike Curry. In 2012, Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers released their self-titled debut album, featuring the single "Little Too Late;" Tim Bluhm handled various guitars and keyboards as well as producing the sessions. In 2015, Nicki & the Gramblers returned with their second album, a polished set of rock-influenced country titled Loved Wild Lost, released through Tim's Little Sur Records label.

Soon after the album's release, Tim and Nicki Bluhm ended their personal and professional relationships. Now on her own, Bluhm started playing as a solo act, sharing stages with the Infamous Stringdusters and Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh. Bluhm moved to Nashville in 2017 and recruited Matt Ross-Spang to produce 2018's To Rise You Gotta Fall, her first album for Compass Records. Featuring several songs informed by her divorce, the set was recorded in Memphis at Sam Phillips Recording. Heartache still informed 2022's Avondale Drive, which added touches of '60s pop to her musical formula, though the songs also dealt with resilience and moving on from life's disappointments. Produced by Jesse Noah Wilson, Avondale Drive was recorded at Bluhm's home, with accompaniment from a handpicked band including Oliver Wood, Jay Bellerose, Karl Denson, and A.J. Croce. Bluhm also found time to contribute backing vocals to albums by Margo Price (2020's That's How Rumors Get Started) and Steve Poltz (2022's Stardust and Satellites). ~ Matt Collar & Mark Deming