Teaching Artists

Nickie Conley

Nickie Conley is an experienced and incredibly gifted vocalist, songwriter, and performer based in Nashville. With over 35 years of experience in the music industry, she is an established mainstay of the city's vibrant music scene. As a proud member of the LGBTQ community, Nickie is an advocate for equality, including women’s rights, animal rights, LGBTQIA+, and BIPOC issues. She has dedicated her career to supporting artists as a background vocalist and toured with the legendary Donna Summer for four years.

Nickie's vocal talents have been featured on a diverse range of film and TV soundtracks, including Greenleaf, Nashville, and Evan Almighty. In addition to her work as a background vocalist, Nickie is an artist in her own right. Her music blends jazz, rock, folk, and R&B elements, and is infused with themes of self-acceptance, unity, and love. Drawing on her own experiences as a Queer woman of color from the South and her commitment to social justice, Nickie's lyrics resonate with authenticity and vulnerability.

“The goal of my music is to uplift, encourage, and inspire you,” Nickie says. “To remind you that you are capable, powerful, beautiful, and worthy of any and all good that comes your way. You are enough just as you are. It’s to help you feel seen and understood and to know that you are not alone.”

Shannon LaBrie

The secret to Shannon LaBrie’s artistry is the seemingly effortless blending of impassioned vocals with honest and insightful lyrics. 

“Raining Hallelujah” is a timely song of resilience. Jonathan Frahm with For Folk Sake (UK) calls the song “a reminder that kindness and healing is just around the bend.”

Written alongside Grammy award winning songwriter Tia Sillers (“I Hope You Dance,” “Blue on Black,” “There’s Your Trouble”), “Raining Hallelujah” offers an optimistic long view while searching for a light at the end of the tunnel.  When LaBrie sings, “Above every storm, a cloudless sky is waiting for you and me,” a choir of soulful singers echo her ambitious call.

Growing up on a farm in Nebraska, LaBrie attributes her passion for music to her Dad, who died when she was just thirteen. “He taught me my first guitar chords and when he passed away, songwriting became my way of grieving and dealing with the pain.”

On her latest album, Building, LaBrie’s undeniable voice and musicianship have been described as “nothing short of breathtaking” by American Songwriter and NPR added her heroic anthem “Firewalker” to their Top 20 of 2020.