In Conversation with Shelley Nicole
Inside Episode 3 with Shelley Nicole
Shelley Nicole—the mainspring behind Shelley Nicole’s blaKbüshe—is simultaneously a product, a witness and architect of Black-on-Black love, a calling that has informed all of her work as a singer, writer, composer, actor, poet, musician, and a healer. It is the tap root of her latest work, I Am American, a collection of songs written by her and produced by award-winning guitarist, composer, and producer Vernon Reid of the band Living Colour.
The project is part of the continuum of audacious, self-confident, and eclectic Black sisterhood that extends from Rosetta Tharpe to Nina Simone to Betty Davis to Labelle to Joan Armatrading to Meshell Ndegeocello. As band leader, she released two previous albums, she who bleeds… and The Quick & Dirty EP.
Shelley is also featured vocalist and percussionist in Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber founded by writer and musician Greg Tate and songwriter and bassist Jared M. Nickerson. As a member of Burnt Sugar, she has traveled the globe performing in venues from The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles to Sons d’hiver in Paris.
Credits
Hosted, Edited, and Produced by Ben Tyree
Theme music is “Latitudes” by Ben Tyree from the 2020 album Lifelines
Photography by Deneka Peniston, Daryl Tillman, and Ben Tyree
All rights reserved by the artists.
Ben Tyree is a musician, composer, and producer who lives in Brooklyn, NY. He has toured and recorded with numerous artists in a multitude of musical genres traveling to perform at venues and festivals all over the United States and Europe. Tyree operates his own publishing company and record label, Sonic Architectures, where he has released a solo guitar recording as well as recordings with his jazz/funk/rock trio BT3.