Things have been busy for Nickel&Rose. Upright bassist Johanna Rose—the “Rose” of the folk-blues duo—just wrapped up her incredible GuthrieUNCOVERED show at Turner Hall, while guitarist Carl Nichols—the “Nickel” of the group—played a pivotal role in the same show. Now, capping off a two-year run that has included an EP (Oh Sweet Love), dozens of shows, and a four-month European tour, Nickel&Rose are releasing two new songs, unveiling a new video, and preparing for another European tour. What have you been up to in 2018?
“We will be touring for two and a half months, making it back just in time for Riverwest FemFest 2018,” Rose tells us. “We are starting in Denmark and making our way through Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Austria, and Romania. We really fell in love with Eastern Europe last time we were there, so we are very excited to go back!”
Rose continues:
Though our last EP is new to Europe (we recorded it in Berlin during our last tour), we wanted to release some tracks of the songs we have written since we returned to the United States. The tracks are more traditional Americana then our last EP, not that we are going completely in that direction, we just thought they complimented each other well. Carl Nichols wrote “Life Goes On” and I wrote “Hard Days Work,” but we arranged them together.
Those two songs were recorded at the Chair Company, a Bay View recording and production studio established by Lawton Hall and Nathaniel Heuer in 2016. Hall mixed and produced the tracks. Speaking of the Chair Company, a Wes Tank-shot/edited video for “Life Goes On” also serves as the inaugural episode of the new Chair Co. Sessions video series.
Check out the new music and video above, and then wish Nickel&Rose farewell at their sendoff show Friday, March 2 at the Walker’s Point Anodyne. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show are $10 in advance, and $12 at the door.