Nicki was originally trained in classical piano. She began using her musical background to teach herself to play the guitar and together with that, she started writing songs. Exposed to the emotion of those first few songs, friends of Nicki's convinced her to perform at a local pub's open mic night. That performance opened the door for her to start playing on a regular basis at area bars, coffee shops and music festivals.

In little over a year Nicki was nominated for 'Best Female Vocalist' in a 1998 reader pole in Columbus's local arts and leisure newspaper, Playgrounds. She went into the studio in 1997 to record a two song tape which increasingly sold with each performance. April of the following year she was invited to play on the Folk Life Stage at Riverfest in Columbus, joining other regional and national known artists.

Early in 1999, she released her first full length CD, 'Precious Things', recorded with bassist Ray Blair and percussionist Dave Holland. With the addition of Blair and Holland, Nicki was able to add a new dimension to her sound. This venture proved to be so successful that Nicki asked Blair and Holland to perform with her on a regular basis. Now touring the southeast to promote her CD, she performs both with a band and individually.