Dale Nikkel
Biography Dale Nikkel
Dale Nikkel
Born in The Pas, Manitoba and raised in Winnipeg, Dale's been writing well-crafted songs for almost 20 years drawing comparisons to James Taylor, Mark Erelli, and Paul Simon. His songs are compelling musical portraits inspired by his own experiences.
A father of three, a simple-living advocate, former school-teacher, a devoted husband, a prairie boy living in fast paced southern Ontario, Dale writes about what he observes, covering themes of love, work, faith and politics. And as Canada's premiere folk magazine described, his writing is: "...all heart without any cheese." (Penguin Eggs)
A gifted storyteller, as well as a performer, Dale's performed at major folk festivals, including Canada's biggest, the Edmonton Folk Festival, and garnered official showcases at major music industry events including Toronto's prestigious NXNE.
Dale's shared concert billings with some great songwriters including The Wailin' Jennys, Welsh songwriting legend Pete Morton, Canadian folk hero Garnett Rogers, Juno-award winning Nathan and Murray McLaughlin to name just a few. In addition to concert billings, Dale's shared folk festival workshop stages with the likes of Grammy-nominated songwriter Eliza Gilkyson, Dan Bern, Canadian troubadour Stephen Fearing, and American folk legend David Wilcox among others.
Dale's songs have been featured on radio stations from coast to coast, including CBC's The Drive, Sounds Like Canada and The Vinyl Cafe. His music has garnered 3 Prairie Music Award nominations, and acclaim through numerous songwriting contests including the UK Songwriting Contest where he was named a finalist in the Folk category.
The 2013 release of Second Hand is Dale's 5th studio recording, a beautiful follow-up to Dale's 2009 release of Second Hand. The album is once again produced by Dale's long time collaborator Steve Abma with guests that include Kimbal Siebert. It's a reflective album that has Dale at his best observing the world and finding meaning in the simple things.
