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Proceed with caution! Ontario-based country outfit Nicolette & The Nobodies, led by Vietnamese-Canadian frontwoman Nicolette Hoang, are about to grab your heart and shatter it into tiny little pieces.
Taken from their forthcoming debut record, The Long Way, set for release on April 12 on Arthaus, ‘Show Up’ is a poignant country western ballad about the absence of a lover, the loneliness that always follows and the strength required to break old habits.
The follow up to the gutsy floorboard rattler ‘Rodeo’ from last year, ‘Show Up’ is a masterclass in the kind of lip quivering countrypolitan and grand pop balladry that Tammy Wynette ruled country music with in the 1970s.
Playfully reimagining the classic sound of honky tonk and traditional country, it’s filled with all the melodrama and grace of the archetypal country stoic and dripping in that deliciously gooey type of heartbreak that epitomised Billy Sherrill’s Nashville Sound in the late '60s and '70s.
“It’s a reckoning about coming to terms with loving someone that will never love you back,” Nicolette explains. “These moments are so painful and so drawn out that you’re just hanging on for any little thing to release you from it. The song is that last look over your shoulder when you are still convincing yourself they’re going to be standing there before you have to walk through that door.”
The music video is inspired by The Johnny Cash Show and '70s country in general, a significant source of inspiration for Nicolette, and shows her performing for a sold-out audience, with one seat empty. Night after night, she sings her heart out for someone who doesn’t show up.
The video for ‘Show Up’ is premiering exclusively on Holler below.
The Long Way, is a debut record ten years in the making, capturing the very essence of timeless country music, rebellious in cadence and instinctive in melody. It is an album for fans of classic country who love the sound but might yearn for a perspective outside of the predominantly male, caucasian narrative of the genre.
The child of Vietnamese immigrants who came to Guelph, Ontario after the Vietnam War and established an optician shop, Nicolette Hoang came to country music later in life, after years of honing her musical skill at conservatory and ultimately losing her passion for music.
Immediately enthralled by the likes of Glen Campbell, Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, and George Jones, she devoured the classic country catalog with ferocity, before a fateful karaoke night in Guelph, where she met Ian Bain, Danny Fury and Emma Howarth-Withers who soon became The Nobodies.
The support of her band enlivened Nicolette with a desire to write her own songs and to be direct and personal with music in a way she hadn’t been before. “I had never envisioned myself in country,” says Nicolette. “Why would I? I had never seen anyone who looks like me in that world. But now that I’ve found my voice, I want to see what it has to say.”
Alongside the announcement, Nicolette & The Nobodies also announced upcoming tour dates supporting Sarah Shook & The Disarmers in Toronto, Montreal, New York City, & more.
Tour Dates (supporting Sarah Shook & The Disarmers)
May 7, 2024 - The Garrison - Toronto, ON
May 8, 2024 - L’Esco - Montreal, QC
May 9, 2024 - One Longfellow Square - Portland, ME
May 10, 2024 - The Cut - Gloucester, MA
May 11, 2024 - Cafe Nine - New Haven, CT
May 12, 2024 - TV Eye - New York, NY
