Getting to know Britt Nicole

By Tifany Borgelt

In case you didn't see our conversation with Britt Nicole in the February 2010 issue of ec, here it is: 

Sparrow artist Britt Nicole burst onto the music scene in 2007 with her debut album, Say It. By the end of that year, she was opening up for ­artists like Sanctus Real, Jeremy Camp, and Steven Curtis Chapman, and her songs were all over the airwaves and charts. She toured heavily for awhile in support of that first album, but somehow found the time to head back into the studio to record her second album, The Lost Get Found, which released in 2009. The title track rushed up the charts.

The singer says her latest album is simply about being who we are called to be as Christians and, as a part of that, seeing lost people come to Christ.

ec recently caught up with Britt Nicole to talk about her new album and find out about her own teen years and how they helped shape her music and ministry today.

ec: How did fan response to Say It affect how you approached your second album, The Lost Get Found?
BN: People love real stories; they can relate when I say, “I struggle, too.” I sing about my pain, my fears, and my weaknesses. I will always be real with my fans. On The Lost Get Found, I just wrote what was on my heart. It’s not complicated, just here’s what’s going on in my life and in the people around me, and these stories and songs are meant to give you hope and joy.
ec: You have a lot of teen fans. What were your teenage years like?
BN: Kind of like a roller coaster ride. One week up, ready to change the world, the next week sad and just trying to make it through the day. I always knew there was a calling on my life to be a leader, to not only talk the talk, but to walk the walk. I knew that if I would surrender, God would use me, and even my weaknesses, to reach ­others and to show His love, and sometimes that pressure was hard.

ec: Looking back now, what have God and time taught you about that period of your life?
BN: I realize that we all go through a season like that where we have to make a decision to go all the way for Christ, instead of one foot in and one foot out. I’m just thankful that God spoke to me when I was 17 and said, “Now, surrender everything.” God and time have taught me the importance of saying, “yes” to His will and His way. In the end it’s not about my wants and my desires, it’s about His kingdom and what His heart burns for, and that’s for reaching the broken and the lost.

ec: If you could go back now and do anything differently, would you? How, if at all, does that affect the way you talk to your fans today?
BN: Yes, I would listen to my parents and youth pastors more and stop trying to be so smart. I tell my fans: “You need someone in your life who loves you and who will tell you the truth. [Authority figures] are in your life and my life for a reason: to protect us, to give us wisdom, and help lead us when we don’t know where to go or what to do. Lean into them and let them help you become better!”
ec: Many times teens are asked to live in the future with questions like “What are you going to do when you graduate from high school?” and “Where are you going to college?,” which can leave the impression that life and the “real world’ doesn’t start until you’re older. Do you think that’s true?
BN: Absolutely not. Some of the greatest men and women of God in the Bible were chosen by God when they were teenagers. God can, will, and wants to use you now to shake your generation for Jesus Christ.


And in case you didn't know, since we talked to Britt, her album hit No. 1 and she was named among the "Top 10 Ones to Watch in 2010” by the GospelMusicChannel.com. She also took a mission trip to Uganda and is going on tour with Natalie Grant and Phil Stacey next month. Also, watch for five of her songs in Sony Pictures' just-released DVD remake of the movie Ice Castles.