New Blog Post for the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy

Follow this link to go to Gabriela Lena Frank's Creative Academy of Music webpage, where she asked me to contribute a blog post about my experience growing there and in general as an artist, musician, and music citizen. The post is very reflective and personal, and I'm happy to share it with you.

https://www.glfcam.com/glfcam/2018/8/1/nicks-blog-aug-1st

Excerpt:

"I identify myself as a New Mexican first and foremost, and probably composer second. If you talk to me long enough, I can’t help but explain New Mexican red and green chile, which of course is definitely not Texas chili (almost always the first question). I eventually find myself talking about the weather (did you know we have thunderstorms and even snow?), the language (30% of New Mexicans speak Spanish?), and the local music (this odd mix of Rockabilly and Ranchera/Corrido?). I could go on as you might imagine.

However, there is something I’m ashamed to admit: Before this year I rarely, if ever, wrote music about myself. In spite of New Mexico being so dear to my heart, I always found myself enchanted by other influences, boxing off the Land of Enchantment and letting it touch every aspect of my life except composition. When I tried in the past, it always felt contrived."