NICOLE FRECHETTE: Review of “Yeah Right” From Taxi® ”Nicole Frechette has a voice that is reminiscent of LeAnn Rimes, only it’s softer. Her phrasing is authentically country, her tone is very clear, her pitch is excellent, and she is beautiful and young. Basically, she is blessed. Her first single, ‘Yeah Right’, has a style that can be considered contemporary country, as well as pop/country. The melody has a memorable hook, good energy and range, and it is competitive. ‘Yeah Right’ has an effective song structure that is formatted for modern country radio. Nicole’s decision to record such professionally written songs represents her well as an artist. This Phil Vassar tune has a terrific lyric to which Nicole brings a sassy attitude.” - Listener ID #34

- “Nicole posses vocal chops! She also delivers the emotion and sensitivity to add a personal touch to her heart rendering lyrics. With the right breaks, Nicole could be on a major label, she’d certainly give the likes of LeAnn Rimes & JoDee Messina a run for their money.” - MAVERICK MAGAZINE, UK

“Move over Carrie!” - Clear Channel Broadcasting Nicole was featured as Clear Channel’s Artist of the Week this past October in the “Artist to Watch" section, along with artists like Little Big Town and Bucky Covington.

“Three songs into Connecticut native Nicole Frechette's eight-track debut, it's obvious she's geared for nothing less than stardom."

In her words, Madison native Nicole Frechette has "always and forever" known she wanted to be a singer. And be famous. An aspiring pop star who happens to be blonde, she's very anti-Britney.And though Frechette is sometimes touted as an "American Idol" type, she never watched the show much-until Carrie Underwood gained ground. That's because Underwood, the winner of the fourth season of the TV series, happens to be a country singer. As is Frechette. Another way she is billed when she performs is as 'Connecticut's Next Country Star'-though she has no idea who Connecticut's first country star is. The country road was an unlikely one for the New Englander. On road trips to Jersey, Frechette would sing for her family. Her mom and dad would tell her siblings to quiet down because Nicole was going to sing for them for an hour. Broadway being her first musical passion, she would belt out "On My Own," to her family of seven. Later, it was monster ballads from the 80s and 90s, with their accompanying vocal pyrotechnics, which captured her imagination. When she was in seventh grade, she recorded her first track in a studio in Guilford. The song she brought to sing was "There's Your Trouble," by the Dixie Chicks. "My voice suited it really well," said Frechette. So even though she listened to many other genres as much as she did country, and indeed often sang non-trendy jazz standards by vocalists like Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald, she began to transform into a country singer. The first time she went to Nashville, she didn't like it that much. "I didn't find any depth," said the New Englander. The entire town, she says, is devoted to country music. "It's scary when everyone is doing the same thing," says Frechette. Even though she does stand out as a Connecticut Yankee in the Court of Country Music. Now her outlook on the city has changed, and she sees the concentration of country musicians as a boon, not a bust. "It's not so much competition as a built-in network," she says. And she's intent on moving there. "When they say, 'Y'all come back now,' they really mean it," Frechette said about the city's denizens. She will take them at their word. But at least for the moment, at least until she goes on a tour in April, she's in Madison, forging a singing career despite not being in the capital of country music, or the capital of anywhere, really. In bars along the shore line, she's belted out tunes, earning what she calls her chops onstage. She's even sung at a former haunt while a student at Manhattan College, an Irish bar in the Bronx whose walls are hung with Irish art and a large portrait of JFK. She says you can hear the Irish folk music in country music-that both genres share a love of storytelling. She started out thinking she would have to sing only at bars called Rodeo This and Saloon That. But, she says, "Country music is changing...You can play a concert any place, any night." At places like Oliver's Taverne in Essex, and Billy's Pasta Cosi in Branford, she's been learning to work the crowd. She's five feet tall, but has a big voice that can be heard even when people have their back to her and talk loudly. She performs songs from a self-titled album she recorded in Nashville. She went through thousands to find the ones that best represented her and the persona she wanted to create. She likes country in part because it can be simple. "You don't have to hide behind a beat," she says. One of those songs, "Good Place to Turn Around," is about God, but she says that the song has a message broader than a purely religious one. "God to me wasn't a religious thing in this song-it was stability. The song is about finding the right way." Meanwhile, Frechette battles instability in her own life, as she takes on the volatile profession of career musician. "What I'm trying to do is strange to some people, and far-fetched to others. But I have to try. Because I want to do it, and because it is built into me." She's perfecting her live shows, and she says she's gaining more control in her voice. She's also injecting more grit and blues into her singing-more rock and roll. Madison, she says, is a "good place to plant my feet and grow. And get some faith in myself." When Frechette earns extra money by babysitting, she gives the kids she's caring for a choice of what to listen to in the car. They usually tell her they want to listen to Nicole Frechette. "Really?" she'll ask. Yes, really. And she obliges, rummaging around in her trunk to take the shrink wrap off one of her unsold CDs and pop it in the player. For more information on Nicole Frechette, visit nicolefrechette.com. She is enthusiastic about singing for an upcoming fund raiser to benefit St. Jude's Hospital.

The shoreline may seem like an odd place to launch a country music career–Madison is well known for its beaches and New England charm, while country music is renowned for its descriptions of honky-tonks and pickup trucks. Longtime Madison resident and 2003 Daniel Hand graduate Nicole Frechette is trying to bring those worlds a little closer together. Nicole released a self-titled country CD earlier this year, the latest step in her life-long love of music. “I’ve been singing since I could speak,” she says. “When I was growing up, I would go on road trips with my parents and my brothers and sister would be listening to music with their headphones on. My mom would say, ‘Nikki gets to sing out loud for an hour.’ My family has always been very supportive.” Nicole’s grandmother introduced her to country music at an early age through Patsy Cline songs. During a recording session at Total Traxx studio in Guilford, Nicole discovered a talent for the genre. “They told me to sing whatever I wanted,” she says. “I knew I didn’t want to be a pop star, so I started singing country; a Dixie Chicks song. They immediately said, ‘This is your thing.’ I like country because it’s the genre that really showcases your voice.” Nicole began performing in local talent shows while in high school and completed a demo CD during her senior year at Hand. The demo captured the interest of Paul Scialabba of Total Traxx and David Northrup, a country music veteran and drummer for Travis Tritt. The men co-produced the eight-song CD Nicole completed in June. Recorded in Nashville, Nicole describes her self-titled debut CD as “country-pop” and says it appeals to people who may not listen to country music. “The songs are radio friendly,” she says. “A lot of people who say they don’t like country music tell me they really like the CD.” Nicole combed through hundreds of songs to choose what would be on the CD. “I wanted to choose songs that had something to do with myself,” she says. “I only had eight songs to showcase my voice and personality. They aren’t just songs you hear on the radio and forget. I think they are appropriate for my age.” Just months after releasing the CD, Nicole has turned her attention to sharpening her skills as a live performer. After spending time in Nashville recording studios, she wants to build a following in her home area. “I have more studio experience than performance experience,” she says. “One of my goals is to inundate the shoreline with my voice.” Nicole says playing in front of an audience is an energizing experience. “It’s a blast,” she says. “You get to do what you love and then they clap for you…you get this fantastic energy while performing. I like building a relationship with the audience.” Nicole plans a move to Nashville after the first of the year where she hopes to perform in a showcase for record labels. Her Connecticut roots help set her apart in the Nashville-based country industry. “[When I’m in Nashville] they call me a Yankee,” she says. “They all say, ‘You’re a Connecticut Yankee that can sing country. How did that happen?’ They think it’s impressive.” As she moves forward with her music career, Nicole hopes she can continue in the country industry. “As long as I get to sing and I can support myself, it would be great,” she says. “Ideally, I would like to get a [record] deal. I would like to stay in country music. I think the people in country are great. They understand art and feeling.”

NOW HEAR THIS Nicole Frechette: Contact: Amanda Kochis, Fresh Management, 203-298-8138 The Northeast doesn't have a reputation as a hotbed for country music, but for 23-year-old singer/songwriter Nicole Frechette, there's an audience for country no matter where she performs. "I look at it like being a diamond in the rough," she says of opting to keep her home base in Southern Connecticut. That's not to say Frechette hasn't had Nashville on her mind. She spent a week there in 2006, cutting her self-titled debut. Unlike many self-released albums, Frechette's self-financed set is ripe with high production qualities, with lead single "Yeah Right" penned by hitmaker Phil Vassar. Frechette's music fits well with the streak of fiery young women like Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood on Country's airwaves. It's not just the clarity of her voice that's strong—so is Frechette's commanding pallet of emotions in her delivery. It drips with Southern charm, expressing loss at one moment, defiance at the next, and hinting at a tone reminiscent of Dixie Chicks' Natalie Maines. Her postal code may suggest Yankee, but listening to tracks like the violin-laced ballad "Cross Against the Moon," one can hear the tender anxiousness of a small-town girl dying to bust out into bigger things, as the song's narrative suggests. While she grew accustomed to studio work in 2006, Frechette started to hone her live performance skills last Fall. Like many country singers, she began by hitting the local bar circuit, but quickly booked gigs in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York. Yet, with this sudden influx of work, she's finding it tough to pay her band while continuing to perform. "So far, I've been losing money at my gigs," she says with a laugh. But in the past few months, it's apparent something is starting to click. She's booked to open for Jo Dee Messina during Labor Day weekend in Woodstock, Conn. She shared a bill with Tim McGraw last month at the Colgate Country Showdown at Boston's Tweeter Center and will soon share an as-yet-unannounced bill with LeAnn Rimes. Media interest has remained steady, with local TV performances as well as features in the New Haven Advocate and the Madison Source. She was also voted New England Country Music Organization's 2008 female vocalist of the year and Female Vocalist of New Country, plus her album also nabbed CD of The Year: 2008. This winter, she plans to head back to Nashville for a time to lay the groundwork for lyrics for her next album. —Michael D. Ayers http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/magazine/music/e3i05185ecb9182ed5205b8415c474ecef8