Nikki Briar latest song is called “Mama’s Boy” and it came from a honest and personal place. She was the mother of two boys and pregnant with a third son when she wrote the song. She has also released a touching video to the song, featuring pictures and videos of her family.
The lyrics of song let the listener see some of the ways that motherhood changed Briar’s life. One part of the song says that she had to take all of her boots out of the closet to make room for toys. “That’s true. I have three kids now in the course of like three years, so a lot of things change in a very short period of time,” she said. “…I am a girly girl, but I have all boys, so all I do now is play with trucks and cars.”
Briar said she tried to channel Rodney Atkins when she wrote the song. She had done shows with the country star and she loved how his father-sons son were fun. “I did want to write a song specifically for my kids,” she said. Briar said that she had ordered shirt that read “Mama of boys” and that may have inspired the title. “It just kind of hit me at three in the morning because I do all my writing when everybody’s sleeping. It just came to me,” she said. “Forever Young” was going to be the first song off her latest EP, but that changed when she wrote “Mama’s Boy,” which she said only took about two hours to write.
When she wrote “Mama’s Boy,” she already knew she wanted to name the EP “Forever Young” and she knew that she wanted it to be a very uplifting project. “I am very religious, so I wanted to include some religious aspects to the songs,” she said. She said that “Mama’s Boy” fit the theme.
Those three boys are never far from Briar’s line of sight, even when she is touring. She said that the boys were able to join them on tour before the pandemic. “I love touring and traveling and bringing them with us,” she said. Briar said that she likes to play tennis and she likes to do girly things like get her hair and nails done or go shopping during downtime. She said most of her free-time is spent doing something related to music.
It has been about 11 years since Briar made her first trip to Nashville to record her A Soldier’s Princess EP. She said she had been doing the national anthem for the New Jersey National Guard and a soldier from Tennessee heard her sing it. He knew some people in Nashville and helped connect her. During that first trip to Nashville, she recorded the EP and played at some honky tonks like Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge and the Silver Dollar Saloon. “Because Nashville is just a welcoming area for all kinds of artists and musicians, …it was was much better than I thought,” she said.
Watch the video for “Mama’s Boy” here.
For more information about Briar and her music, people can visit her website at www.nikkibriar.com. Her music is on Spotify and she has a YouTube channel. Fans can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.