Nikki Hornsby

Singer/songwriter and 12-string guitarist Nikki Hornsby also heads her own label, NH, which has released a number of her country singles and EPs, including her 2000 country gospel release, Reaching Out. Born in California but raised in Virginia, Hornsby (no relation to Bruce Hornsby) began playing music at a young age, trying several instruments before sticking with the guitar. She gigged regularly during her college years on the East Coast, and when her schedule didn't have room for both school and making music, she took time off from school. In the mid-'70s, Hornsby returned to California with her parents and started performing regularly in the South Bay Area.

She didn't start recording until the late '80s and soon one of her songs, "Shoestring and a Prayer," got played on a number of AM and FM stations, as well as in Europe -- in fact, she was named Scandinavia's Female Singer of the Year in 1988. This single also charted in the Cashbox Top 100 national charts and in the Top Five of the IRC (independent) country singles in 1989. Another favorite of hers is "Hot Talkin' Big Shot," which has been used on one DJ's talk show for several years. Hornsby was once backed by the Doo Wah Riders, but since the mid-'90s has led Nikki Hornsby & the Rangers, who have gone through several incarnations but have long included drummer George Green and keyboardist Larry David. Her band has performed at city and county fairs and summer concerts, company parties, national conventions, hotels, and even elementary schools. She has also served as a panel judge for various country music competitions in California and is a member of the ACM.

Hornsby has released several albums on her own label, CJP-NH Records, including Reaching Out in 2001, a CD of positive country songs dedicated to her terminally ill brother. In 2005 the compilation Previous Releases was issued, which contained all of Hornsby's charted songs from 1989 to 2002. In the mid-2000s she revisited Europe, performing and receiving favorable media notice for her original songs. Upon her return to the U.S., Hornsby released Just Wait in 2006, containing the track "This Is America," which was included in the international World Cup soccer broadcast on CNN. Three years later an instrumental version of the album was released, appropriately titled Just Wait Instrumentally. ~ Joslyn Layne, Rovi