Stories I Only Tell My Friends is the third solo album from Nikki O’Neill, an R&B/Americana singer-songwriter and guitarist based in Chicago. Featuring eleven songs written by O’Neill, the album is co-produced by her and Rich Lackowski, and it was recorded mostly live with her 5-piece band by John Abbey at Kingsize Sound Labs in Chicago. The album’s making was largely supported by the Illinois Arts Council, who chose O’Neill as one of their Creative Catalyst Grant recipients for 2025.
Written in 2023-2024, three years after O’Neill relocated to Chicago from Los Angeles, some of the songs on Stories I Only Tell My Friends revolve around exclusion, uprooting and her personal experiences with migration, while others describe the struggles of staying creative and maintaining a quiet sense of wonder in a fast-paced information-driven society. There are also songs that are pure celebrations of love. “The album seems to move from musically-driven to more lyrically-driven storytelling songs, which wasn’t premeditated,” O’Neill says.
The soul-inspired Americana sound that permeates Stories I Only Tell My Friends is very much a joint creation of O’Neill and the members of her band: Rich Lackowski (drums, percussion, harmony vocals), Chris Corsale (most lead guitars, harmony vocals) and Teddy Myers (organ, piano, Wurlitzer and Rhodes), along with John Abbey and Chris Stanford on bass. O’Neill played rhythm guitar, all acoustic guitars, the solos on “Square One” and “I Wish the Sun Could Shine on Me,” plus the twin guitar solo on “I Just Knew” (together with Corsale).
“I brought my songs to the guys as rough recordings, we then arranged them together and everyone crafted their own parts,” O’Neill says. “Chris (Corsale) is a true soul music fan, and it’s not easy to find guitarists who are. He’s built his song arranging chops on cats like Prince, Curtis Mayfield and Tony Maiden, and he also contributes great harmony vocal ideas. Teddy comes up with great keyboard hooks and colorful ways to set moods and build energy in a song, while Rich creates the tastiest drum fills and dynamic transitions, and really makes an effort to get the feel right.”
She continues: “Initially, I was scared to record a new album after relocating to Chicago, since everyone involved in the project would be new people except Rich. As a band, we’d performed shows with my previous material, but we hadn’t worked on any new songs yet. But there was such an immediate communal spark once we started, and the guys put their hearts into these songs. A lot of enthusiasm was felt at the studio sessions, and John was an awesome recording engineer who brought out the best in us. He also mixed the majority of the record, and helped us out by contributing great bass parts.”
Premiering exclusively on American Blues Scene is “Live Like You’ve Just Begun,” the second single featured on Stories I Only Tell My Friends.
Bringing a fresh twist to the breakup song genre, O’Neill transforms heartache and optimism into a sound that’s distinctly her own. Recorded mostly live with her tight-knit band in Chicago, this tune hits a sweet spot, where the lyrics tell one story while the instrumentation tells another. Her vocal delivery is a standout, carrying the raw passion of the blues, the warmth of Americana, and the soaring spirit of gospel, while maintaining a modern edge.
Nikki tells us:
This is a soul tune with a more unusual message, as it’s a happy breakup song. But even though the lyrics are well-wishing, the wah guitar hooks, teardrop glockenspiel notes and organ solo will tell you the truth, and they will pull at your heart strings.
