A Year of “How I Got Here”: Nicole Craig on Heartbreak, Motherhood, and Finding Her Voice
There’s a moment Nicole Craig wishes she could get back. It’s launch night for “How I Got Here,” the album she’d spent five years pouring herself into, and instead of soaking in the room full of people who came out to support her, she’s running through a mental checklist of everything that could go wrong. She forgets to eat dinner. “It was a big moment for me, and all the logistics and possibilities of what could go wrong plagued me. I forgot to eat my dinner at one point. I wish I had soaked it in a lot more.”
A year later, sitting with some distance from that night, Craig can finally exhale. The album is out. People heard it. And more than that, they felt it. “It means I finished what I started. It means I overcame the fear of ‘what if people hate it?’ ‘What if people judge me?’ I spent way too much time in the past concerned about that. I’m proud of myself for putting it out there regardless. What matters most is if I love what I created.”
That fear wasn’t small. “How I Got Here” had been five years in the making by the time it finally reached listeners, delayed again and again by production hiccups, financing, scheduling, the usual grind of getting an independent project across the finish line. What most people didn’t know while streaming the album, though, was the detail hiding just behind the scenes: Craig promoted the entire thing while pregnant. “I didn’t want motherhood to take the delayed release from 5 years to 6 or even 7. Finishing what I started was now more than just about healing or facing fears as an artist, but it also became about moving into a brand new phase of life and wanting to be ready to tell new stories about it. Was it tough doing this while pregnant? Yes, there were many unexpected logistics that had to be considered that my team and I did not account for, but we were determined to follow through.”
Determination, it turns out, is a bit of a theme with Craig. She didn’t just release an album, she released one entirely on her own terms. Genre-blending. Sung partly in Kriol. Built from lived experience rather than whatever happened to be trending at the time. “I didn’t choose a sound or topic because it was trending, or what the people di listen to right now. I did what felt right to me. That’s a tough choice to make when getting new listeners is a major goal of releasing a project.”
The gamble paid off in the way that matters most to her: people actually felt it. “It was heartwarming to get so many messages from people who felt a real connection to the topic and the lyrics. Experiencing challenges in relationships, struggling to find yourself, desiring genuine love, these experiences were not unique to me. I learned how many people felt seen or heard and genuinely appreciated that I had created this music.”
Craig says her feelings on the songs themselves haven’t exactly shifted over the past year, but her relationship to them has. A little time and a little life can do that. “I wouldn’t say my views of the songs have changed, but I can say I’ve seen how much I’ve grown. There are certain things I sang about that I wouldn’t do or accept today. I do see how life experiences shape you, and I’m glad that I gained confidence and self worth in the process.”
Ask her which track means the most now, and there’s no hesitation. It’s “Rest of My Life,” a song that, fittingly, sounds like where she’s landed. “I’m just in a really happy place in my life. I’m focused on moving forward, peace, happiness and living a beautiful, full life. That song genuinely makes me happy, and so far, it feels like the best song I’ve ever written. I’m really proud of it. I am dying to perform it with J.Cas again.”
In the year since release, the album has followed her everywhere, into DMs from strangers, onto the radio, into a Christmas TV special (“Nicole and Friends at Christmas” on Channel 5), and eventually onto a stage, where she performed her own original music live for the first time in her career.
Now, Craig is easing back into the studio, this time with a new chapter to write about. “I’m working on something for Christmas which will feature new music. Motherhood is certainly a major inspiration in what’s coming next. As always, I sing about life, and so I’m sure many people will be able to relate to what’s coming too.”
Don’t mistake the new material for Craig closing the book on “How I Got Here,” though. She’s not done introducing it to people who haven’t heard it yet, and she’s more than ready to get back in front of a crowd. “I know there are so many people who haven’t heard my music or didn’t see the album showcase. Even though I’m working on new music, I will continue shining a light on ‘How I Got Here’ to keep introducing it to new people who haven’t had the chance to hear it. I’m ready to start performing again!”
Fans can catch her live this September 3rd, 4th, and 6th at the Francis Reneau Concert Series at the Bliss.