Claudia Nygaard Is One Lucky Girl New Album Out Now
Nationwide Tour with Radio, Folk Alliance Regional Conferences
and of course, music!
“Her songs are heart-wrenching, socially conscious, sexy and funny.” – Chicago DJ Rich Warren/WFMT
Claudia Nygaard tells stories rooted in her own life experience, and sometimes that means tackling some tough topics. “It’s scary to peel back all the layers of the onion to your most vulnerable self,” she says, “and even scarier to make those feelings public, but there is power in having the courage to risk that kind of exposure too. When you lay yourself bare like that, your work is more authentic, and it creates a deeper level of intimacy with the listener.”
On her new album, Lucky Girl, Nygaard more than once takes that risk. On songs like “Me Too” and “I Wonder,” Nygaard cuts into the stories like a surgeon with a fish knife, scraping off scales and pulling back the flesh to expose the bones. She displays emotional fearlessness when revealing heartbreak on “Like A Moth” and “Oklahoma,” and she makes no apologies for her scrappy side with songs like “Ol’ Buick” and “The Codependent’s National Anthem.” She even pulls back the covers on her sensuality with “Tumblin Down” and “A Little Bit Embarrassed.” Lucky Girl is filled with songs that can only be written by someone who has done some living. And Claudia Nygaard has done some living.
Produced by Grammy-nominated Neilson Hubbard, the album is a beautiful soundtrack for these thirteen little stories self-penned by Nygaard. It delivers passionate performances from Nashville session musicians that include Evan Hutchings and Neilson on drums and percussion, Dean Marold on bass, Juan Solorzano on guitar and Lap steel, Kris Donegan on electric guitars, Eamon McLaughlin on Fiddle, and Claudia on ukulele. The project was recorded at Skinny Elephant Studio, with Dylan Aldredge at the board.
Nygaard learned her craft by working at a staff songwriting job on Music Row in Nashville, but the rush of singing to a live audience and her love of the road had the greater pull. She couldn’t resist it and has spent the past two decades tearing up the highways of North America performing for audiences from Alaska to New Hampshire, and from North Dakota to Florida.
“I am continually amazed by the emotions she can evoke,” said Kerrville Folk Festival’s Dalis Allen. “Her songs are heart-wrenching, socially conscious, sexy and funny.” Noted Chicago DJ Rich Warren compared her voice to amber honey. Critic Lee Zimmerman called her “a knowing soul,” and The Alternate Root said Nygaard possesses “a voice that wiggles into narrow spaces (as she) opens up and lets in a lot of love and hope.”
Claudia Nygaard – Tour dates
SEP 20 Dallas, TX Opening Bell Coffee
SEP 21 Houston, TX JP Hops House
SEP 22 Austin, TX NeWorlDeli
SEP 24 San Antonio, TX The Pigpen
SEP 28 El Paso, TX Live at Studio C – Star City Studio
SEP 30 Laguna Beach, CA Songwriter Showcase at the Cliff
OCT 01 Arcadia, CA Matt Denny’s Ale House Restaurant
OCT 02 Hermosa Beach, CA Saint Rocke
OCT 11 Port Townsend, WA Rainshadow Recording Studio
OCT 19 Pasco, WA Community Unitarian Universalist Church
OCT 24 Grand Rapids, MI Folk Alliance Regional Midwest
OCT 27 Park Forest, IL Route One House Concerts
NOV 07 Stamford, CT Northeast Regional Folk Alliance
NOV 11 Charlotte, NC The Evening Muse
NOV 13 Albuquerque, NM Western Music Assn Conference
NOV 22 Bayfield, WI Bayfield Carnegie Library
NOV 23 Shawano, WI Cotter Creek House Concerts
NOV 29 Roanoke, VA Third Street Coffeehouse
DEC 06 Savannah, GA First Friday of Folk
DEC 15 Winter Park, FL Central Florida Folk
APR 24 2020 Tehachapi, CA Fiddler’s Crossing
