Singer-songwriter Nicole Tesseyman delights audiences with her warmth and humour. Yet as a little girl, she was painfully shy – until a child was needed to play a clown in her infant school play, and she put her hand up. “I suddenly knew I really wanted the part,” she says. “Everyone must have thought: ‘Wow! It’s the kid who doesn’t speak!’
Nicole went on to study performing arts at Cornwall College and joined a touring theatre company. On returning to her home town of St Ives after many years away, she played an active part in the town’s Boathouse Theatre. “The theatre was small and quirky, and everyone loved it,” she told me. “We wanted to have a song, a laugh and a tear in every show.” She also set up a singing group called Little Larks to help shy children – like the child she once was – to gain confidence.
Nicole started writing songs in a variety of styles – country, folk, sea shanty – and she had only just started performing solo when she was signed to a record company. Earlier this year, she launched her first CD, Oll an Gwella – Cornish for “All the best”.
I first met Nicole when she asked if I could put together some publicity material for her, and we talked for a couple of hours. When I’m telling someone’s story, I find that the beginning isn’t always the best place to start – but in Nicole’s case, I soon realised that there was no better starting point than the quiet little girl who knew she wanted to be a clown.
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