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 Nicki Bluhm (from the album To Rise You Gotta Fall available on Compass Records) The entire mood backing the recording of her new release To Rise You Gotta Fall was personal for Nicki Bluhm. The stories mirrored her life, a time when she was losing hold of a marriage and of her band, The Gramblers. Opting to not get stuck in a moment, Nicki Bluhm chose the rip the band-aid off quickly model, moving from her west coast home-base to Music City, recalling that ‘Nashville was inspiring because of the all the songwriting going on here. When I would come to Nashville on writing trips it was just percolating…it was intoxicating. So I very hastily, in a matter of days, decided to move. I just had this gut feeling’. A clean slate of options appeared, Nicki Bluhm recording To Rise You Gotta Fall in Memphis, a new location, and a new producer, Matt Ross-Spang, helping her begin a new phase with the only baggage the words to the songs she took into the studio. Nicki Bluhm knew that ‘these songs are quite personal. They are the conversations I never got to have, the words I never had the chance to say, and the catharsis I wouldn’t have survived without. I began writing the songs for this record when I was in a failing marriage to a man who was not only my husband but also my musical partner, mentor, and bandmate. The earliest song written for the album is “How Do I Love You” and was essentially a plea to understand how to make the communication better in a marriage I was desperate to save. “Battlechain Rose” is a coming to terms with the reality of deception and betrayal while “To Rise You Gotta Fall” (the title track) is a more hopeful message born out of a lot of therapy, contemplation, time, self-help and healing’. Self-inflicted accusations become mantras with a message to be listened to as To Rise You Gotta Fall reminds “It’s OK Not to Be OK” on raggedy rock’n’roll as heartbreak slows the beat for the realizations and regrets of “You Stopped Loving Me” and sets seemingly unachievable goals with “I Hate You”. Nicki details her thoughts and actions in three and four minutes snippets, stacking up the emotions and moods without sinking into melancholy. Sweet Soul music sets the pace for the final decisions of “Can’t Fool the Fool” as Nicki Bluhm rides a Country sway into “Something Really Mean” and draws the curtains on To Rise You Gotta Fall on the dreamy melody of closing cut “Last to Know”. Listen and buy the music of Nicki Bluhm from AMAZON http://www.nickibluhm.com http://compassrecords.com/ 
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