Music has always been a part of Nikki Renaud’s life. As an adult, she is ready to take on the music industry. Armed with her trusty guitar Alistar, nothing will get in her way of pursuing her dream.

Renaud is a Chico native and is a singer-songwriter who is incredibly passionate about her craft. Though she hasn’t performed her own music in front of a large crowd as much, she performed her own music for the first time at Open Mic Night at Blackbird Cafe. Watching her perform, one might think, by her confidence, that this was her 100th performance.

Renard gave some personal insight on her musical journey.

[Q]: How did you first get involved with music?

[A]: I’ve been singing ever since I was a child, since I could sing, so I was always into that. But in eighth grade, I met someone who could play the guitar and fell in love with her and the guitar, so I just really wanted to learn how to play. So I learned some chords and ended up just teaching myself.

[Q]: How did you develop your musical style?

[A]: It all came just came pretty natural to me actually. I tried to play different genres of music but I just felt like I was straining to create, and then I just let natural things flow and that’s how I created my music.

[Q]: How would you describe your music?

[A]: A lot of it is pretty sad and emotional because it’s based on like traumas that I have, but I’m working on happier things too. A lot of my music, I wanted to begin with a story of struggle, and end with perseverance.

[Q]: Going off that, are those the things that are running through your head when you’re writing a song?

[A]: Yeah. sometimes. I just am improvising though and a song happens and I read through it and analyze it and I figure out what it means afterward.

[Q]: Do you still get nervous performing?

[A]: Yeah, I get incredibly anxious and feel like I’m going to vomit, but then I get on stage and I just feel like comfortable up there, I guess like I should be performing.

[Q]: What are some of your musical influences?

[A]: Oh, that’s a big one. I listen to a lot of David Bowie and Elton John and Billy Joel. They’re really inspirational, but also I love the band Paramore and Hayley Williams from Paramore. She’s the lead singer and she’s amazing. I’ve been in love with her forever. She’s kinda why I wanted to pursue music.

[Q]: So do you plan to pursue music as a career?

[A]: I plan to pursue it as a career. I don’t have a backup plan because that’s the way to do it. I don’t have anything I can just fall back on if I want to give up.

Renaud plans to move to Los Angeles to continue to pursue her music. She recently signed with an acting manager after having performed at an industry network competition in Los Angeles, where she performed in front of 50 of the biggest agents, managers and casting directors in the country. It’s clear that big things are in store for Nikki Renaud, and we should all keep a lookout for her.

Alex Coba can be reached at [email protected] or @ThatOneGuyCoba on Twitter.