Push yourself out of your comfort zone
and see what works for you and what
doesn’t. Art is not linear. There’s no mold
for anything.
Sherman: And Dwight, what are some
of the lessons you learned early on by
gigging?
Ritcher: You’ve got to practice a lot. I
know that seems pretty straightforward,
but if you have that much of a drive for
music, you’re going to need it. Honor that
drive, you know. Work on your instru-
ment. Work on your singing. Don’t be
afraid to be a student, to be obsessed.
Honor the curiosity that comes with that
drive. And be humble if you’re a “front
person.” I’ve been a front person my whole
life, singing, playing guitar … I could have
the best night singing and playing, but I
need the drummer. I need the bass. They
need me. I need the roadie that’s loading
our gear and the manager. Respect the art
of what they do.
Sherman: The two of you met in Boston,
correct?
Ritcher and Nelson: We did.
Sherman: So, how did the two of you
meet?
Nelson: We were fans of each other’s
bands. I saw Dwight open for Otis rush
at the House of Blues. I was blown away
by Dwight’s band. I just couldn’t believe
this kid was writing the songs and had
that much charisma and singing like that
and playing guitar and just, the band was
crushing. I mean, Scott and Jonna Ruta—
brothers on horns and, and Warren Grant
on the drums, and Greg on the bass and
they were all just gelling together. And it’s
like etched in my mind as so much cooler
than anything else that was happening. No
offense to anything else that was happen-
ing in the Boston blues scene at that time,
but he was doing something really special
as far as I could tell, which was unique and
his own material. And when I say blues, it
was like, based and steeped in blues, but it
was definitely more than that. You could
hear the influences. I could hear the pop
music, and I could hear the jazz influences.
All the things that I also loved, he seemed
to also love. We had the exact same taste in
40 VERMONT MAGAZINE
music. And yeah, you know, he showed up
at a jam I was hosting in Quincy,
Massachusetts. Someone said, “Dwight
Ritcher is here. You should get him up
on stage.” And I was like, “Oh, My God!
Starstruck!” S,o I got him up on stage,
and he’s slaying—and then we did a slow
blues together. And the place was just,
like, electric—captivated by our energy
and our singing together. We just, like,
moved together and everything was just
very linked. And he had a girlfriend—and
I had a boyfriend … and they were there.
At one point, were on stage together and
they both, like, left the room. They were
like, “You guys have a lot of chemistry.”
We did, but at that point, we were like,
“No. No. No. We’re friends. He’s like my
brother. I would never—I’m not that kind
of person.” And plus, he’s a guitar player
and a singer with all these dimples and I’m
like, he’s a player. I would never date him
anyway. But, um, we moved to New York
within a month of each other, broke up
with our other people, and like picked up
and just took off—left our bands and both
just ended up in the same place, which is
blocks away from where I grew up. And it
was just the universe pushing us together.
We started doing shows together. I would
open for him or he would open for me.
And then we could do some songs togeth-
er. And afterwards, people would be like,
“Do you guys have a CD together? Like,
do you do shows together?” So, we started
doing that and it was easier than bringing
his whole band and me bringing my whole
band—and we just started booking us to-
gether, doing this thing: Dwight & Nicole
unplugged.
Sherman: You had regular and successful
gigs for a while. Nicole, you then had the
opportunity to be on the TV show, The
Voice. Tell me about that experience.
Nelson: Well, let me start with how it got
started. I feel it was cosmic. I get a little
cosmic sometimes. I had already left New
York, moved to Vermont, and did not have
a TV. I wasn’t interested in reality TV. At
some point, I remember friends from high
school being like, “Hey, Jermaine’s on The
Voice. You should do that show!” Jermaine
was this kid that I went to high school
with, who ended up on the show The Voice,
which I had not heard of. I was busy
making tinctures at home and learning
about, you know, health. Kind of just doing
my own thing.
Sherman: Being a Vermonter.
Nelson: Getting into Vermont. Getting
way into it. Getting into good hiking
boots! Well, my cousin was like, “Let’s at
least watch him on YouTube”. And so I
started watching him. I saw his audition.
I was actually at a Super Bowl party with
a friend of ours, who had a big screen TV,
and I saw a commercial for The Voice—and
it was featuring Jermaine during the Super
Bowl. And The Voice was going to debut
following the Super Bowl, and I was like,
“Oh my God, that is huge exposure. This
is gonna change his life. I guess it’s not all
bad. You know, I started kind of softening
around it. And I liked the premise that
they weren’t seeing the person. They were
listening to their voice. It seemed a little
bit less harsh and less phony to me. And
so I supported him in that, and I ended up
speaking to him, and I spoke to his sister
about his experience. More and more
people were like, “You should do the show.”
And one of my best friends was on anyway,
and he won the whole season. And shortly
after that, he was on Ellen and Letterman
and Leno. And a producer [I knew said], “I
have a friend who asked me to reach out to
you and see if you would audition for The
Voice. And I was like, “Interesting.” But, it
just felt cosmic. Jermaine had just won and
I looked at my yearbook, and he wrote,
“Nicole, I love singing with you. Someday
I’m going to make it really big, and I’m
going to come back and get you unless you
make it big, and then you come back and
get me.” So I agreed to do it.
Sherman: For those who missed season
three, what did you sing as your audition
song?
Nelson: I sang Leonard Cohen’s
“Hallelujah.”
Sherman: On the first show, I think they
introduced you as a “Hippie from
Vermont.”
Nelson: They sure did.
Sherman: Who was your coach?
Nelson: Adam Levine.