BIO
Nicole Renee is an up-and-coming country singer in Nashville, TN, but originally hails from Elmhurst, IL. Nicole is all about story-telling, and wants to bring back the 90’s country sound again. In May of 2022, she graduated from Belmont University with a Bachelor of Music in Commercial Voice with an emphasis in Music Business.
Nicole has been involved with music since she was very young. After learning of friends who were singing, at age 8, she expressed interest in being a part of a children’s choir. Around that same time, Nicole picked up the Piano and Viola, and began to take lessons in both instruments. By age 11, she decided to be apart of Show Choir in middle school, as Nicole had a background in dance for many years prior. Falling in love with performing even more, she got a recommendation from her choir director to begin private voice lessons. At age 12, she began studying with Sara Schriener, who is the co-owner of Beyond Center Stage Performing Academy in Villa Park, IL.
Studying with Sara Schriener opened the door for Nicole’s future. She was apart of the Chicagoland Ambassadors, which was a traveling Show Choir team that she did her freshman year of high school. Nicole began getting roles in her high school musicals, getting gigs by playing at coffee shops, and even signing a 4-year contract with her high school to sing the National Anthem for all sporting events when she was just a freshman. Throughout her time in high school, She was apart of two acapella groups, every musical, and her high schools dance team. During her senior year of high school, Nicole had decided to study music and voice in college. By November of 2018, she had committed to Belmont University to study Commercial Voice.
In her time at Belmont, Nicole found a passion for country music after performing “Any Man of Mine” by Shania Twain with her ensemble Pops her sophomore year. For her junior year, she ended up being asked to join Southbound, which is the country ensemble at Belmont. From the help of her director Henry Smiley and vocal coach Sandra Dudley, Nicole was able to find her “country sound” and decided to pursue country music even further. In January of 2021, she auditioned at Dollywood to be a part of their country shows, in hopes of landing a professional job as a country singer. With only 3 available spots, and over 550 auditions, Nicole landed a role within the first 30 seconds of her audition. She moved to Pigeon Forge in May, and went on to sign and perform under her first contract. Nicole was one of 3 female vocalists in the show, and was able to perform for artists like Rascal Flatts and Lainey Wilson. She gained media attention through local Pigeon Forge facebook pages, as well as local newspapers from back in Elmhurst. Although Dollywood offered her a contract through January 2022, Nicole decided to leave her contract and come back to Nashville in August to finish her senior year at Belmont.
During her final year at Belmont, Nicole had incredible opportunities like performing with country artists Josh Turner and Russell Dickerson. After graduation, she came back to Dollywood in June of 2022, and during her return, she has been apart of several new shows on park including Forever Country, Hydro Jive Junction, Dreamland-Drive In, and Christmas In The Smokies. In 2023 she was a semi-finalist in Tennessee Songwriter's Week, where she performed her winning original at The Bijou Theater in Knoxville. Nicole has since moved back to Nashville, and is a current vocalist on The General Jackson Showboat. In her free time she continues to write, sing at writer's rounds, and has released her first singles “Carolina Night” and “because you love him” this past year! You can stream them both on Spotify, Apple Music, and all streaming platforms!