photos / Sam McGill
There’s something magical about life on tour—the long drives, the late-night laughs, the thrill of stepping onto a new stage each night. For Scottish singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt, this journey has been a dream. Nina takes us with her on the road with the legendary Snow Patrol. Dive into the stories, snapshots, and songs that make life on the road an adventure worth living.
What is your favorite thing about touring?
I’d have to start with the shows — which are an obvious highlight. It truly is such a magical experience getting to play live. Especially given how challenging it can be to tour as an independent artist right now, I feel like I appreciate it even more. Secondly — the food. Whether it’s a big arena tour with catering (which is always amazing) or a smaller tour where we get to go out and try the local delicacy. It’s a huge part of the tour for me and can often be the highlight of my day. I love trying whatever is popular in the area we’re in. Some of my favorites have been deep-dish pizza in Chicago, incredible curry in Singapore, BBQ in Nashville, Tex-Mex in Texas, and so many more!
What have you learned about yourself from touring?
I’ve learned that being on stage definitely doesn’t come naturally to me and I have to become a constant hype woman for myself in order to get on stage most nights. I’m definitely learning to just let go a bit more and to try to be in the moment. When I’m able to do this I surprise myself with how great it feels to just get lost in the songs and connect with the audience. It’s a bit of a mental struggle sometimes though. I’ve also learnt that I love being around people, which is weird because I’d consider myself an introvert and someone who needs my own space. Touring often puts you in a bit of a bubble and the people in that bubble can determine how fun it is. I love surrounding myself with positive people who really want to enjoy every minute. We all get to share the same experience on stage and help lift each other’s spirits if someone is having a difficult day.
I love that Mountain Music was partially inspired by touring in the U.S. Can you explain the inspiration more deeply?
Yes! I’d never visited the US until my first writing trip at 19. I then didn’t tour it until my album The Sun Will Come Up, The Seasons Will Change started streaming a lot in 2018. I spent almost 2 years there back and forth on different tours. It was everything I’d seen in the movies and more. The yellow buses! The red cups! I cannot. It was so inspiring to see places that really valued songwriters, such as Nashville. I feel like with country music being so big across the US, there is such a deep love of lyrics and a simple story told over a few chords. It was a huge part of why I decided to make my recent album Mountain Music.
This picture was taken during our soundcheck in Glasgow. I went to visit a friend the day before the show and during my train journey to Scotland I hit a landslide, which meant I was stranded in the middle of nowhere. Luckily I met a couple on the train who were also going to the show and we managed to share a car to the arena! I got there just in time for soundcheck but it was a bit stressful!
This is the guitar station, which Dan looks after at the side of the stage. I wrote my recent album in 3 different guitar tunings, which seemed really exciting at the time. However, it now means a lot of guitar changes on stage! It’s a bit of a challenge to remember all the different fret positions in different tunings, but it keeps it exciting!
Due to the landslide, I only had a short amount of time to get ready, which meant I had to assemble my home made dress in a state of panic haha! I made it from the tartan table cloth I used at my Burns Night party.
When you tour with other musicians, you feel a certain camaraderie. What was it like with Snow Patrol?
Getting to tour with Snow Patrol was such a full-circle moment in many ways. I grew up listening to their music as a kid, which always feels surreal when you then get to share a stage. They were also a huge inspiration for my recent album and featured on many of my sonic reference playlists. I’ve always loved how their songs build until they explode. I love those moments so much. Gary, Johnny, and Nathan were incredible on stage and off. We all felt so welcome on their tour and it was great to meet them.
OMG, Stevie Nicks, please tell us about that experience.
Supporting Stevie Nicks was an absolute dream come true! She is such an icon in many ways and a total legend. I loved watching her set every night. Her voice has never sounded better. I also love how she’d kept all the old capes she wore on certain album covers and shows back in the day. I felt even more inspired by her music and style after the tour.Who are some other musicians you would love to tour with?There are so many… but the first that come to mind are Hozier or Mumford & Sons. I saw Mumford have a tour coming up later this year and I definitely want to see it! Huge fan of both.
Give us a dream festival lineup; it can be dead or alive: 🙂
Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, Bon Iver, Taylor Swift, Whitney Houston, Imogen Heap, The Cranberries, The Smiths, Coldplay, Mazzy Star, Bruce Springsteen, James Blake, Kate Bush, Sigur Rós… I’m probably forgetting loads but this is a start! What’s been inspiring you lately outside of music?I love creating, really. I’m really passionate about cooking. I love trying to recreate recipes from places I’ve visited. I feel like some of my best ideas for music come when I’m cooking because it feels like a part of my brain switches off. I’m also trying to write a fictional book just for fun. If I think it’s good when it’s done maybe I’ll think about putting it out, but it’s unexpectedly providing a lot of inspiration for my future music and I’m learning a lot about myself in the process.
Is there a specific song from Mountain Music/Mountain Music (The Summit) that feels the most vulnerable to you?
The whole thing!! It really does feel like I’ve ripped off a piece of me and put it out there into the world — which is kinda daunting. Every song on there is really important to me and captures a really difficult time in my life. Writing Mountain Music was such a healing journey and has provided more comfort to me than anything else. I’m so grateful to be able to process my life through songwriting. Your songwriting has always been deeply personal.How do you decide which experiences make it into your music?I took a while to write Mountain Music because of this… I felt like everything was so deeply personal and as I’ve grown older I’ve become less comfortable sharing my personal life with the world. The way I make it work is, if something feels off limits to talk about or isn’t my business to share, I can still write about how it made me feel. You can either write about the situation in detail or simply just how it made you feel. I think our feelings are always valid to share because they belong to us. I also think it leaves the song more open to interpretation and people can take it into their own lives however they want. But this is something I’ve definitely had to work out.What would be your dream venue to play?The OVO Hydro in Glasgow… or Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver— such an incredible venue.
After the first 2 songs, getting over the nerves of playing in an arena, I found myself getting lost in the songs and enjoying every minute of these shows.
It was great to debut some of the new songs from Mountain Music (The Summit edition) on this tour. I loved hearing them all in such a big venue.
Touring as an independent artist is particularly difficult at the moment. I feel so lucky that this tour allowed me to bring my band. As much as I love playing solo shows, there’s such a different energy when I play with a group of musicians. I feel like it’s easier to get the crowd excited and put on a show.
I started talking about my song Mansion in Belfast and looked down to see a girl holding up a piece of paper. The lights were really blinding so I couldn’t read it at first but as I got closer I saw it said ‘Nina, you’re a mansion’ on it. It absolutely made my night!
Just before I went on stage I walked past Courtney Cox! She is such an icon and was so lovely. I’m obsessed with her outfit. What a queen.
On the last night I walked into my dressing room to find a lovely bottle of champagne and a note from Snow Patrol. They were so so lovely throughout the whole tour and always made sure we were looked after. I decorated a cake and wrote ‘light up, light up’ on it as a thank you for having us. Unfortunately when I got to their dressing room with the candles all lit, they couldn’t put them out as I’d accidentally bought relighting candles.
It was such a joy to share this experience with my band and crew. It can often be quite lonely touring as a solo artist, so I really treasure the moments we have together.
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