NICOLETTE HELM's background as a guitarist/singer/songwriter has been evolving since she was about seven years old. A second-generation guitar player (from a family of four guitar players), raised on jazz, her own interests ranged from folk, rock, bluegrass and blues, to forming her own 8-piece motown group, JUMP STREET, in the mid-'80's. Planting her feet firmly in the blues for the last two decades entitled her to share the stage with the likes of Marcia Ball, Paul Delay, Booker T., Eddie Clearwater, Deanna Bogart, Norman Sylvester, Curtis Salgado, Kenny Neal, Lavelle White and more. Becoming a cancer survivor in 2003 turned her musical direction back to her original music. She released a "rockin' blues" CD of originals in 2005, "DODGIN' BULLETS" and promoted it sucessfully with a trip to Europe in 2006. "I liked the DODGIN' BULLETS project but am looking forward to my next CD with myself, not only in charge of writing and performing, but the production and sound engineering as well." To that end, she began studying Music Technology in 2007 and is in the beginning stages of building her own recording studio.
Although born in Oregon, Nicolette's formative years were spent in Montana, where her father had an opportunity to perform with Conway Twitty, Charlie Pride and Bonnie Guitar. "My childhood was one big jam session with my dad, my two sisters and my dad's musician friends. We got into all kinds of genre's of music back then; country, bluegrass, hillbilly, you name it. Dad loved the old jazz standards but we were surrounded by country players in Montana." After shuffling through three different cities in Montana,(White Sulphur Springs, Wolf Creek and Helena),
her father moved them back to Oregon.
"I was writing songs long before I ever recorded or played professionally. I have always loved literature, languages, poetry and music, so it was inevitable that they would all merge into one. This is the way I communicate best with the world. If you really want to know me, just listen to my music." Nicolette started playing professionally around the mid 1970's. Her first band, "Nicki Helm and Nightingale", used to regularly rock the now infamous Cougar Room in Blue River, Oregon back in the day and performed with The Rounders Hoyt Axton and Jan and Dean. In the '80's she switched gears and formed "JUMP STREET", an 8-piece Motown group that included a sax player (Mike Mellinger) who went on to study at Juliard. By the end of the '80's, Nicolette's interest turned to the blues and by 1990, she found her footing and has remained firmly planted ever since.