Nikita Karmen

Nothing about Nikita Karmen's ascent through the country-pop landscape during the late 2010s followed a standard arc. Originating in Australia rather than the United States, she first reached American audiences through Bobby Bones' touring operation tied to his energetic syndicated morning radio program. Although the outfit carried the name Raging Idiots, Karmen's songcraft remained earnest and tuneful, blending country and pop elements in a manner reminiscent of Taylor Swift and Maren Morris. That hybrid approach surfaced on her self-titled 2017 EP, after which a sequence of digital singles issued in 2019 and 2020 allowed her to refine her songwriting and solidify the fusion.

Born in Sydney, Nikita Karmen was raised in a household filled with music alongside her identical twin Desiree. Both parents performed with the band Hotel Berlin, and her father introduced her to guitar at age 15. Before long the sisters uploaded clips of Nikita's original material to YouTube. She soon began performing solo and, in the mid-2010s, relocated to Nashville to play every available open-mic slot while auditioning for assorted opportunities. After returning to Australia she learned that Bobby Bones and the Raging Idiots had invited her to join their touring lineup.

Karmen settled in Nashville, dividing her time between daytime songwriting sessions and evening support slots for the Raging Idiots. Following the conclusion of her first tour with Bones she secured a publishing agreement with Black River Entertainment in 2016 and launched her recording career that same year with the single "Out of the Park." The self-titled debut EP appeared in 2017, succeeded by "Nightmare" in 2018. Two further digital singles, "Our Thing" and "Gonna Die Young," surfaced in 2019 before she moved to November Records/EMPIRE. Early in 2020 she issued three singles on the new imprint: "The Start of the End," "Even If You Missed Me," and "Came Close."