Nico Pemantle

Bio

Greetings...

Nico sits on a porch bench

The primary purpose of this website is to share my music with fans of the so-called "James Taylor" genre.

I am very proud of my first album, Soft Shoulder, which surprised even me by receiving commercial airplay in Medford, Oregon (which was media market #148 at the time) back in 1993. I still think that "Soft Shoulder" contains many of my best songs; my personal favorites are "Something Between Heaven..." and "The River Runs Dry."

My 2003 album, Cellular Banana, features my most recent songs and offers an upgrade in recording quality along with my own growth as a songwriter.

I hope you enjoy the website and/or the music. If not, then I hope you enjoy the picture of my dog.

— Nico Pemantle

Biography

Nico strums a guitar Born and raised in Berkeley, California, Nico Pemantle has been writing and recording songs since he was 19. Highly influenced by artists such as James Taylor and Jim Croce, Nico has now written and recorded about 50 songs.

Nico released his first album, Soft Shoulder, on compact disc at the age of 26, while living in Medford, Oregon. Shortly after the album's release, two commercial, Adult Contemporary radio stations in Southern Oregon, KROG and KCMX, bent their policies of not airing self-produced artists and added the songs "Let It Rain" and "Something Between Heaven..." to their playlists. This unprecedented success was accompanied by widespread local media attention and prompted sales in record stores such as Sam Goody and MusicLand.

Nico's Baseball Card Since releasing "Soft Shoulder" in 1993, Nico has written and recorded over 30 new songs—all of which have been produced in top quality digital sound and 13 of which are featured on his latest album, Cellular Banana, which was released in August 2003.

Outside of his songwriting endeavors, Nico has enjoyed careers both in play-by-play broadcasting and in teaching. While at U.C. Berkeley (1985-90), Nico broadcast spring training games for the Oakland A's; he is still the youngest person ever hired to broadcast for a major league team. After college, Nico spent four years (1990-94) as play-by-play announcer for the Southern Oregon A's, a minor league affiliate of the Oakland A's. It was during this time that he was discovered by KROG and KCMX.

Having returned to Berkeley in 1994, Nico is currently a Guidance Counselor in Oakland Unified School District.

Listen To Nico's Music!

Nico's late dog, Gino

This website and Nico's first album, "Soft Shoulder," are dedicated to his beloved dog, Gino (1977-1991), who was soft but didn't really have shoulders.