© 2024 KMUW
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

A Musical Life: Nikki Sample

Nikki Sample is a solo singer-songwriter and lead vocalist of the Wichita band Big Red Horse. She lives in Wichita with her husband, Ryan.

I've been a musician and a singer my whole life. But I put it down for about 10 years and did the big girl job thing--and I still do. I was asked to join a musical project and it rekindled my love for music. I had forgotten how much I needed it. It had been a long time since I'd had it in my life.

The band stuff is very fun and sweaty and energetic and I get to take on this persona of a strong, female rocker chick and I like that.

But the solo stuff is an entirely different, equally terrifying, project for me too. It's just me. That's something that I've never really done before, especially like this--actually going out and playing guitar for myself. I've worked very hard in the last year to get to that place where I feel comfortable enough playing and singing and writing [and being] in front of large groups of people.

Jedd Beaudoin is host/producer of the nationally syndicated program Strange Currency. He has also served as an arts reporter, a producer of A Musical Life and a founding member of the KMUW Movie Club. As a music journalist, his work has appeared in Pop Matters, Vox, No Depression and Keyboard Magazine.