Nicole Boggs & The Reel are known for their scintillating and, above all else, authentic brand of Americana-influenced rock and roll. Their music breaks from the status quo by blending contemporary rock sensibilities with gritty nuances of Memphis blues and soul, tied together by Boggs’ powerful voice and brutally honest narratives.

“We realized that trying to go with the status quo has not elevated us to the level we want to be,” Boggs said. “So, you might as well tell the f***ing truth.”

This philosophy is at the heart of the band’s new single, “I’m Gonna Break Your Heart,” from the forthcoming None of Your Business EP due out July 3.

“I’m Gonna Break Your Heart” is Boggs’ opportunity to flip the script; to sing from a woman’s perspective about being blatantly self-destructive in a relationship. The idea came to Boggs, after she realized that such a story is rarely told by female musicians

“As a female artist, there hasn’t always been a lot of room to tell the truth, especially if that truth gets a little ugly,” Boggs said. “When you start having to admit something about yourself or someone else that isn’t so pretty, that reflects on you in a negative light. I have found it important to try to push past that boundary and recreate what that means.”

“It doesn’t make me a bad person if I tell an honest story.”

That sentiment is shared throughout the rest of The Reel, who embrace Boggs’ fearless storytelling and take that as license to freely create.

“A lot of us come from a freelance professional music background, so there’s something really cathartic about being in a band, and to write, have a message, and send an idea out there that’s purely our own,” explained guitarist Alex Kramer. “After a long time of hitting the marks and doing what’s expected, it’s freeing.”

Despite all of the ugly truths these Reel musicians tell, they certainly know how to have fun. A prime example is the new video for “I’m Gonna Break Your Heart,” which officially releases Friday, May 8.

The video shoot was hosted by Anana Kaye and Irakli Gabriel at Duende Vision, who helped create a full artistic vision out of one simple idea.

“I brought the idea to them on this video, and all I had was that I wanted to break things,” Boggs said.

From there, they went to work on the video below, breaking all kinds of household objects — and even lighting a fire — to make for a fun visual ride.

“We’re lucky we got out of that day alive, with no lacerations,” said guitarist Sam Gyllenhall, who earned the nickname “Safety Sam” from his bandmates for introducing safety goggles to the shoot.

“We had a very limited amount of time and scenes, and we didn’t have a ton of conceptual stuff going in,” Kramer added. “That’s just a testament to Duende Vision. They are very talented.”

Planning for the Future During COVID-19
Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic causing uncertainties about touring this year, Nicole Boggs & The Reel remain hard at work leading up to the release of None of Your Business later this summer.

Boggs notes that the tongue-in-cheek honesty of the band’s current material is a sign of what’s to come, well into 2021.

And, there is plenty on the horizon for the Nashville-based quartet.

“We’ve picked five songs for this EP, but we have several other things waiting in the wings,” Kramer noted. “They’ve all gradually evolved toward this harmony-rich kind of sound, and there’s a consistency starting to build out, from project to project.

Added bassist Loren D. Clark, “We were some of the lucky few, as far as indie artists go, that we’re able to accumulate enough work. Even though we’re in quarantine, we’re not worried about having to build a ton of content, because we’ve been ahead of the game.”

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