Sherman: What was some of the really
good advice that he gave you?
Nelson: This is a good question, because I
loved Adam. Working with him was great.
He was very familiar to me. Hardworking,
nice guy. However, he is painted in the
media—people are jealous, people like to
sell magazines, or whatever. He’s a good
dude. And he was good to me and kind,
and we got along really great. There was
one point where I was like, “How do you
stay sane?” There’s a circus around him
you wouldn’t believe. And he was like,
“Well, when you get really, really famous,
that either brings out the best in you or
the worst in you. You’ll find people being
better than they ever thought they could
be—and you’ll find people being worse
than you ever imagined they would. And
sometimes you flip-flop between those
two things, you know, from time to time.”
And I was like, “Okay, that makes sense.”
[Another lesson]: He had just done The
Morning Show or Good Morning America
or something. And it was like a 5:30am
soundcheck. Brutally early. And he just
seemed so warm. So I was like, “How do
you do that? Did you do not sleep?” He’s
like, “Give yourself a few hours to wake up.
Do a bunch of jumping jacks, do yoga, get
warmed up physically, and then practice
your song until you are so sick of that
song—just keep doing it again and again
and again—to the point where you could
do it in your sleep, you know. And then
you get up there and maybe you are half
asleep. It doesn’t matter. You’ve practiced
it. You can nail it even if you are sleeping.”
And I thought it was such great advice.
was able to go out for one of the rounds
of the show and see her. And, so, that was
awesome.
Nelson: It truly was a really fun experi-
ence—like music camp. I didn’t have any
responsibilities. I just was given a sched-
ule. This day you have off, Nicole. Okay.
I’ll go to the gym and the pool. 9am hair
and makeup. All right. The van’s going to
pick you up out front at nine. I’ll be there.
Like, it was just, kind of, easy. Everything
was very good with the crew. Everybody
was professional. It was really a learning
experience in that way.
Ritcher: And she came home with more
confidence from it. More confidence,
because of the pressure. More confidence,
because she had seen production at the
[highest] level.
Sherman: That’s awesome. We never
really talked about how you ended up in
Vermont. Why did you decide to come up
to Vermont?
Sherman: Have you used that advice since
then? Nelson: Well, this fine man went to the
University of Vermont and made really
good friends. And when we first started
dating, he would bring me here to hang
out with his Vermont people. He’s like,
“Want to go to Vermont for a weekend?”
And I was like, “Yes, I do.” And so we
came to Vermont together and spent a
weekend and I was like, “I love this place.
I love these people. I love the mountains. I
love Lake Champlain.” I mean, Burlington
was like artsy and small and clean. And
everybody was nice. I was just like, “How
did you ever leave this place?” So, I started
a little campaign to move back there, but
then it took five years.
Nelson: Yes. Sherman: And what year was that?
Sherman: Does it work for you? Nelson: Let me think. Let me think. Let
me think. Like, 14 years ago-ish.
Nelson: Yes, it does. Get to your game
early. Regardless of how early that gig is,
be warm.
Sherman: And Dwight, what did you
think about her going on the show?
Ritcher: It was a real thrill to see her out
there. My father had had like a big heart
surgery and he had valves replaced and he
Ritcher: We’ve been together 15 years,
[so she probably started campaigning] 14
years ago. I loved it. I mean, I grew up next
to the highway. So, it was really cool to be
in Vermont. I love literature, and I studied
English. [When the opportunity to move
to Vermont presented itself], I ran it by
Nicole. She said, “We’ve got to do it!” And
it just seemed like the right time. New
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