Nikki Glaspie, Talented Drummer Taking It to The Nth Power

Nikki Glaspie is the extraordinary drummer for the smooth soul-funk group The Nth Power. The band will open for Snarky Puppy April 14 at the Roxian Theatre. Glaspie has said that she comes from a long line of preachers and teachers. The self-acknowledged black sheep of the family nonetheless sees herself as a spiritual leader, ministering through positive, uplifting music. The Nth Power is set to release their fourth studio album, Never Alone, on May 1.  

Entertainment Central spoke with Glaspie who was in Austin, Texas. In the 2020 documentary about her titled Nikki by Eric Loy, she said she was drumming coming out of the womb. She always knew she was going to be a drummer. I asked her how that manifested itself. She replied, ”Pulling dishes out of the cupboards and playing with spoons which wasn’t learned behavior. My parents were like where did she get this from?” When asked how she would describe herself as a drummer, Glaspie laughed and said, “Consistent, which is probably the most important thing you need to be as a drummer.”

Glaspie has toured in the Suga Mama band with Beyoncé and has also toured with the noted saxophonist Maceo Parker (James Brown, Bootsy Collins, Parliament-Funkadelic, and Prince). I asked her what those experiences were like. “Playing with Beyoncé was amazing. I toured the world many times over, was able to perform at a very high level every night, one of the highest levels. I learned a lot. I learned how to tour a production. How to perform. How to energize an audience. I also learned that with Maceo as well. How to connect with an audience through your instrument. It was a great learning experience and truly an honor to share the stage with him. He was one of the architects of funk music as we know it.”

Along with Glaspie, The Nth Power is composed of guitarist Nick Cassarino and bassist Nate Edgar. The band formed after a late-night collaboration at the New Orleans’ Jazz Festival Showcase in 2011. I asked how Glaspie’s spirituality manifests itself in the music, “We are like-minded individuals and it doesn’t really have anything to do with religion…Spirituality is connecting with the spirit, whether someone else’s spirit or someone who’s moved on, the divine, whatever you want to call it. I feel like there’s many names for one thing. Call it whatever you want to call it, the higher power, the greater wisdom, whatever. That is what we try to connect with and to deliver to people. Try to break down these walls of division that exist as it comes to religion.” Glaspie feels that love is the most important thing and she rolls with that.

The promotional materials for the upcoming album release says that Never Alone was written at a Vermont farmhouse and studio overlooking Lake Champlain, owned by Phish bassist Mike Gordon. And there was also a lunar eclipse during that time. Glaspie said about those writing sessions, “It was crazy. It really was. And that’s kind of like what we talked about, connecting. And the lunar eclipse happened while we were there and it really changed the trajectory of the session. We were definitely more creative and more in tune after that happened. That is really what it’s about, connecting to the universe. To try to connect to other people. That’s why the name of the album is Never Alone. A lot of people think that they are alone in the situation or whatever they’re going through. Right now we’re all experiencing the same thing. I don’t know one person who wants to go to war…One person that supports killing other people…There’s more of us that don’t want it than want it. A lot of people are being affected by it in a negative way. The kind of premise is you’re not alone. We feel the same way and would like to change it.” 

Two singles from Never Alone have been released. One is “Dream Alive” which is an anthemic song that speaks to “perseverance in shaping the future you want to see. It has fantastic guitars, drums, and vocals.” Glaspie commented that she really enjoyed drumming on that song.  I was curious to know what her kit consisted of. She quickly checked off, “I play a Yamaha drum kit, a Phoenix drum kit, twenty-two inch kick, ten [inch] twelve [inch] rack toms, sixteen [inch] and eighteen [inch] floor toms, I play Zildjain cymbals, Remo heads, and Vater drum sticks. 

The day we spoke the second single had dropped. On “Simple Life” The Nth Power was joined by the New Orleans brass collaborative The Soul Rebels. The New Orleans influenced song has a distinctive drum beat. Glaspie said the different drum sound in that song is that The Nth Power is doing it in three, not in four (putting the main accent on the third beat of four instead of on the fourth). It kind of gives it a different feel than what people are used to.” She continued, “That song is how we operate, the drumming gives the song a different feel than what people are used to. But that’s just our own take on it. That’s who we are as The Nth Power. We like to take things and make them newer. Play them how we hear them.”

Entertainment Central was given an advance stream of Never Alone. It is an outstanding album with its smooth soul-funk songs served with a side of positivity. It all adds up to a great time spent listening. You can catch The Nth Power at the Roxian and again at Johnstown’s Flood City Music Festival in July.

Rick Handler is the executive producer of Entertainment Central.

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