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If Nini Camps were to decide stop singing and playing guitar, she could just as easily become a stand-up comedian. Not only does she have a powerful voice and ferocious playing style, she is funny as hell. In between songs during her set at Earthshaking Music during Ladyfest South, she kept her audience in stitches with amusing random banter. The New York City based musician has a sound that is an eclectic meld of folk, pop, country, rock and whatever else she feels like throwing in the mix. She recently released a full-length studio recording called "So Long."
Cheryl: Was this your first Ladyfest?
Nini: This was a first for me.
Cheryl: Do you plan on attending others in the future?
Nini: Maybe, it depends on tour dates and schedules. However, it is a great community of women getting together to get things done. Regardless of whether or not I will be performing at them in the future, I will certainly be supportive of Lady Fest and encourage others to participate if possible.
Cheryl: How long have you been writing and performing? What made you decide to become songwriter/musician?
Nini: I was always jotting ideas and phrases down since I can remember. Then i took a semester of guitar in high school and started putting words and music together. I sort of fell into music. I moved into New York City right after college and started playing in the clubs. Once I did that there was no getting away from it.
Cheryl: Who are your artistic influences? Why?
Nini: So many! I learned every song on the Indigo Girls first record. It was actually a cassette that I would play over and over again until I could sing and strum along in perfect time. I started by having to place the fingers of my left hand in position on the fret board with the right hand. Ha! What a process that was. And then of course, I have and older brother that loved AC/DC, Led Zep, Ozzy--so that was infused into my brain as well. I still sometimes do an AC/DC cover.
Cheryl: How would you describe your music?
Nini: It's sort of a mish mash of everything I love. There's some bluesy slide stuff, some of the Latin rhythms I grew up with. There's the pop melodies and chorus-oriented songs, some alt-country. Somehow all the styles seep into each other and I guess my "style" or whatever you want to call it, is created by everything that gets thrown into the melting pot.
Cheryl: Do you have a Web site where people can find out about/buy your work?
Nini: http://www.ninicamps.com
Cheryl: Anything else you want to add?
Nini: Support indie music. Go ahead and share the music you love, but make sure the artist gets the support from you they need to keep making the music you love to listen to.
Cheryl Coward http://cherylcoward.com is a Chicago-based freelance writer and novelist. Her work has been published in such publications as the Chicago Tribune, the Village Voice, Essence and Black Enterprise.
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