In September 2015, her debut album,
Wolf Den, was released on Concord Records. It reached number 2 in the
Billboard Top Blues Albums chart in October that year. The album was produced by
Anders Osborne and Ryan Kingsbury. Writers included Nicole, Anders Osborne, Al Jackson Jr. and Mike Sedovic. Players were Nicole, vocals/bass; Anders Osborne and
Luther Dickinson, guitars; Mike Sedovic, keyboards;
Stanton Moore, drums. On March 10, 2018, Nicole's second release,
Cry No More, peaked at number 1 in the
Billboard Top Blues Albums Chart and included producer/collaborator
Tony Braunagel; writers
Bill Withers,
Prince,
Jeff Paris,
Tamara Champlin,
Maia Sharp,
Pam Rose, Anthony LaPeau, John Lardieri, and herself. Players were Nicole, vocals/bass;
Nick Schnebelen,
Brandon Miller,
Walter Trout,
Kenny Wayne Shepherd,
Monster Mike Welch,
Luther Dickinson and
Johnny Lee Schell, guitars; Mike Sedovic,
Mike Finnigan, and Kelly Finnigan, organs; Tony Braunagel, drums; with Maxanne Lewis and Kudisan Kai as background vocalists. The
TV series,
S.W.A.T., used "Save Me" from this album on the February 21, 2019 episode of the show. Nicole, along with
Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, did the warm-up show for the Fourth Annual Utah Blues Festival in June, 2018, at the State Room, headlined with her band, Brandon Miller and Kris Schnebelen at the International Blues Festival in Canada in July 2018, and at the Bean Blossom Blues Festival in Indiana in August 2018. She performed with an orchestra her tribute to
Etta James and
Aretha Franklin at
Knuckleheads Saloon in November 2018 and, in February 2019, she was part of a cruise and concert at Knuckleheads for the
Michael Ledbetter Foundation. Nicole's awards have included the Independent Blues Award for best contemporary CD in
Blues Blast magazine, and Top 20 Blues Rock Roots Album. She was inducted into Canada's South Blues Society Hall of Fame.
Cry No More was nominated for a 2019
Grammy Award in Contemporary blues. In May 2019, the album received two
Blues Music Awards for Contemporary Blues Female Artist and Bass Instrumentalist and garnered three additional Independent Blues Awards in September 2019 for best
R&B Soul CD,
Music Video for the album's title track, and R&B Soul Song for
Prince's "
How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?". In June 2021 and May 2022, Nicole was awarded the
Blues Music Award for bass instrumentalist. She was on the cover of
Blues Blast magazine and garnished the bass guitar award for 2022 in their magazine in September 2022. She had a featured article, "Lady Sings the Blues" by Bertrand Deveaud, in
Rolling Stone, France, June 2022. In August 2021, Nicole paired with Bonfire Music to oversee the Danielle Nicole Band's booking and tour schedule. At the 2023 Blues Music Awards, Nicole again garnished the award for 'Instrumentalist – Bass'. and continued to tour in support of her music in the United States and Europe. Nicole, Spencer Hutchings, and Davey Nate performed the opening song and the
Isham Jones/
Gus Kahn tune,
"It Had to Be You", in the 2024 movie
Which Brings Me To You, directed by Peter Hutchings and starring
Lucy Hale,
Nat Wolff and
John Gallagher Jr. During a scene in the movie, her song "Take It All", written by Nicole with
Anders Osborne from her album
Wolf Den, can be heard and was mentioned in the ending credits. On January 26, 2024, following three single preview tracks, saw the release of Nicole's
The Love You Bleed. on Forty Below Records; produced by
Tony Braunagel, co-produced by Danielle Nicole and mixed by
John Porter. It featured Danielle Nicole - vocals & bass;
Brandon Miller - guitars, mandolin, vocals; Go-Go Ray – drums, Damon Parker – keys; Stevie Blacke - violin, cello. All but one of the tunes were written by either Nicole or co-written with Brandon Miller. The one cover was penned by
Steve Goodman and
J. Fred Knobloch, "A Lover Is Forever". In its second week of release
The Love You Bleed ranked number 1 on the Billboard Blues Chart. In December 2024,
The Love You Bleed was acknowledged as a Top Album of 2024 by
Rock & Blues Muse magazine. On May 9, 2024, Danielle Nicole received the
Blues Music Award for best Contemporary Blues Female Artist of 2024 and in September 2024, she was named Bass Guitarist of the year by
Blues Blast Magazine. In 2025, from the Blues Music Awards, she earned nominations for both instrumentalist vocals and contemporary blues female artist. Nicole's vocals were featured on
Mississippi Heat's 2025 album, ''Don't Look Back'' on two tracks: "Shiverin Blues" and "I Ain't Evil" (September 2025 -
Delmark Records) Danielle Nicole was pictured on the cover and interviewed in the January 2026 issue of
Blues Music Magazine. and on Jan 15, 2026, she conducted a Master Class for Bass Guitar at the
International Blues Challenge. ==Discography==