Date Signed: April 2026
Label: Hard Working Records
Type of Music: Alternative
Management: Self-managed
Legal: Aaron Steinberg - Marucs & Colvin LLP
Publicity: Becky Kovach - Big Picture Media
A&R: Dirk Hemsath, David Conway
No sooner had alt-acoustic artist Nicole Alexis (often wonderfully stylized as N/A) dropped her debut Mirrors & Smoke EP, then the announcement was made that she had signed on with Nashville imprint the Hardworking Record Company. It’s a just reward for an artist who has been writing songs for as long as she can remember.
“I started playing music when I was young, and songwriting became my way of making sense of whatever I was feeling,” Alexis says. “I believe I was around 13 when I wrote my first full song—it was called “Superman” and I never wrote it with the intention of writing a song, it just came so naturally based on the situation I was going through at the time. When I started middle school, I was playing in bands with my friends in a ‘school of rock’ program, which allowed us to play some of the most iconic venues in the Atlanta metro, and sometimes three shows a week. At first, I did not like it because I was so shy and insecure about my playing when I was young but after many years of performing live, I really grew comfortable with not being afraid of messing up and having fun, being able to do what I love for an audience. Over the years it’s gone from being something I had fun doing to something I genuinely can’t imagine my life without.”
Alexis describes her sound as fitting somewhere between alternative rock and singer-songwriter.
“I’ve always been drawn to emotional, honest lyrics, but sonically my music has evolved quite a bit,” she says. “I produce, mix, and master all of my own music, which gives me a lot of creative freedom, but it also comes with plenty of trial and error.”
The artist connected with Hardworking earlier in 2026, and it felt like a good fit after the two parties talked. “What really stood out was that they believed in the vision I already had instead of trying to change who I was as an artist,” Alexis says. “They understood that I wanted to keep creating authentic music and growing the project naturally, so it felt like a partnership rather than just signing a deal.”
Alexis recorded Mirrors & Smoke at her home studio in Nashville. “I wrote, produced and mixed it myself, which is always something I’m really proud of,” she says. “I wanted it to feel personal from start to finish, so I spent a lot of time experimenting with sounds, recording live instruments, and letting the songs develop naturally instead of rushing the process. It’s probably the most honest collection of songs I’ve written, and I think it really captures where I am both as a songwriter and as a producer.”
With the “Goodbye” single also out now, and shows getting booked, expect a lot more from her.
Photo by @kesa-luxe
