Someone said that “every story is a search for something.” The story of Nick D’ and the Believers is the search for a compromise. A compromise that joins the narrative voyages of artists like Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, with the melody and stride of Smokey Robinson and the titans of soul. Bringing these elements together in the modern dialogue of popular music-- where sampling is an accepted norm and the synthesizer reigns supreme-- is the story of Nick D’ & the Believers.

Nick D’ spent the last several years between a set of headphones doing home recordings and looking for a way to progress from acoustic driven, conventional songwriting, to something that reflected the changing landscape of modern music. He collaborated extensively with friend and painter Ryan James L. in a project called Learning Asuka, that tried to break down the traditional borders of a song through improvisation and a “new-eyes” approach to song structure. He then found inspiration working as a music director for an afterschool program on Columbus’ west-side, recording and producing original projects with the kids there. He learned about sampling, looping and synthesizing, and began incorporating these elements into his own primarily acoustic-driven work.

After collaborating with Kerry Henderson at Urban Folklore to make a music video for a new song “motorcity, motorcity,” the Believers were formed with Kerry providing air-tight harmonies and expert guitar licks, as well as a wealth of experience in video production. It also included Joseph Barker, whose excellent ear for production and arrangement had been fine tuned in his bands Hurricane Hearts and BellaRuse. His understanding of songcraft had also been honed in extensive solo projects, such as writing a full original musical for the University of Iowa.

They are currently based out of Columbus, Ohio where they are working on recording and releasing a new EP, developing new video projects with Urban Folklore and building a fan base throughout the state. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.