Living rooms. That’s where Nikki Moddelmog learned to love music. 
"I always wished I had one of those 'I've been singing since I was three years old' kind of back stories, but it just isn't true," she says. "Music wasn’t a big deal to me. I mean, I liked the songs that I heard on the radio, just like everyone else. But that’s all."
But in her college years, she made friends who played music. They had no TV – just instruments and songs and laughter and a big sense of community. Nikki was drawn to that. She bought her first guitar and learned her first five chords, and she began to find her voice – and her confidence – among friends, in one living room after another.
She's gone fast and far since then. With hundreds of shows, two solo CDs and a thick sheaf of original tunes to her credit, she has built a rock-solid following as one of central Kansas' notable singer-songwriters. Big stages, big audiences, and a hard-earned big-time reputation.
Her one-of-a-kind voice and distinctive guitar playing put her in good company on the folk-pop spectrum, somewhere between Ani DiFranco and Patti Griffin. Her songs are at once deeply personal and profoundly universal, and her onstage manner is a delightful blend of supreme confidence and awkward self-consciousness. One reviewer called her “a charming and disarming mélange of contradictions.”
These days, Nikki is declining many social engagements, focusing instead on her music. She started vocal training with Tony-winning diva Karla Burns. She sings with her swingin’ trio The Sidecar Royals, and she loves her ongoing collaboration with classical cellist Susan Mayo. Her stellar four-piece all-star folk-pop band The Mischief Makers is a powerful regional force. And she is fervently exploring jazz.
“I'm not a math student. I don't understand jazz theory, and maybe I never will,” she says. “But I love to sing it. I love the melodies, the structure, the swagger that comes with it. So now I'm figuring out how to incorporate a jazz vibe into my original work.”
For now, she’s working to cultivate that just-right audience – listeners who are receptive to the musical package she wants to deliver. And she has found that opportunity by playing house concerts between Wichita and the west coast.
“I love to travel, and I love playing for new people,” she says. “My favorite way to play is with a small, engaged crowd. Like, me and twelve other people, telling my stories and playing my songs by the fire. Or in a living room. Again with the living rooms.”
There’s a lot to love about that kind of performance. Lower volume. More intimate connection with her audience. More reasonable hours. It is, in a word, healthier.
As a naturopath-in-training, a yoga instructor and a massage therapist with a long list of devoted clients, health is a primary concern for Nikki. “It’s my job to make people feel better. I want my music to be part of that.”
Look for Nikki Moddelmog wherever you go, coming soon to a living room near you.