The pride of Neptune City, N.J., who’s made Nashville her home for about a decade, Nicole Atkins has a preternatural ability to sing and write songs about longing. That applies to rich and nuanced songs about romantic feelings and relationships, as you might expect, but also to reaching her goals as a musician (as in “Never Going Home Again”), figuring herself out (“Goodnight Rhonda Lee”) and coping with a world that feels all the time like it’s broken and on fire (“AM Gold”). All over her catalog, there’s soul, there’s rock, there’s old-school pop, there’s the occasional disco moment and more, all anchored by her streetwise honey-and-fine-grit-sandpaper voice. Atkins’ super-sized 2025 included support dates with Stevie Nicks and working on a new record that’s due this year via Chris Isaak’s label. She’s set up this February residency at Analog to showcase the new tunes and bring out a few friends: The remaining dates feature JC Coventry and Lauren Morrow on Feb. 21 and Jeremy Fetzer and Kashena Sampson on Feb. 28. I was unaware but not surprised to learn that Atkins is also a professional illustrator, and she’s providing art stations at each table throughout the venue and inviting the audience to draw during the shows.
Feb. 21 & 28 at Analog at Hutton Hotel
1808 West End Ave.
