Nicki White

You could say Nicki White was destined for music before she’d 
seen the light of day. 

Her parents were musical: Her mom played the flute into 
college; her dad started playing guitar in his teens. Her mom’s 
dad played accordion. Music was prominent in her family long 
before she was born: “My dad wanted to name me Presley 
because of his Elvis obsession.” 

Instead of naming her after The King, they shared with their 
daughter their favorite music, including the sounds of The 
Beatles, Vince Gill, Shania Twain. And Prince. 
By the time she was in elementary school, Nicki was listening 
to her own favorite pop heroes: N*Sync, The Backstreet Boys, 
Brandy, Christina Aguilera. 

When she was 12, she persuaded her mother to let her give up 
the flute and take guitar lessons. Her guitar teacher, Cindy 
Egger, started Nicki on her current course, coaxing her to get 
on stage and perform in front of strangers. She was 15. 
“Cindy would have student recitals in the basement of The 
Toon Shop in Prairie Village. I stared at a coat rack the whole 
time while playing one or two songs. My mom even played 
flute with me on a Colbie Caillat song during one of those 
recitals. “ 

That would lead to more open-mics, including one at Jerry’s 
Bait Shop in Lee’s Summit when Nicki was 17. Egger 
accompanied her on bass during a cover of Wanda Jackson’s 
“Mean Mean Man.” 

“I got a standing ovation from three people,” she said. “I was 
shocked.” 

Her resume includes several years of vocal lessons plus a year 
at the Unversity of North Alabama, where she aspired to study 
the business part of music: “I wasn’t focused enough and had to 
move back home my second year in.” 
Nearly 10 years after that first standing ovation, music is her 
sole focus. Nicki is a bona fide singer-songwriter, composing 
and performing songs inspired by a wide variety of 
songwriters. 

Her favorites cover a wide gamut of genres and styles: Bonnie 
Raitt, Bobbie Gentry, Grace Potter, India Arie, Kacey 
Musgraves, John Prine, Amy Winehouse, Charles Bradley and 
Kansas City’s own Danielle Nicole. And Prince. 
People have told her she sounds like everyone from Norah 
Jones and Sheryl Crow to ZZ Ward and Bonnie Raitt. There is 
some Miranda Lambert in there, too. 

“I sum (my sound) up to the blues because that’s the base of it 
all. I have some jazzy, easy listening, funky, R&B and even some 
classic-country sounds.” 

Those deep blues roots can be heard in songs like “Praises and 
Curses.” But there’s often plenty of soul in her sound, as well. 
You can hear that in “One Quick Fix.” Both songs were recorded 
live at the Gospel Lounge at Knuckleheads and are available on 
YouTube. 

Or check out “The Good Side of You,” the seven-track EP 
(available on iTunes) she recorded in Muscle Shoals, Ala., that 
showcases the diversity in her songwriting. It’s the composite 
of many inspirations and influences that Nicki has distilled into 
a sound that is her own.

-Timothy Finn