Nicole LaRae

Born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Nicole LaRae has been passionate about music from a very young age. She used to create cassette mixes for friends in elementary school by recording songs from the radio. She enjoyed exploring her family’s record collection and was around for the birth of MTV, obsessing over music videos.

Nicole began attending concerts regularly as a teenager and it continues to be something she finds great joy in. The way the world’s problems seem to disappear for a few hours inside a show, as well as the connection it brings between people of all backgrounds, is what keeps her coming back for more. She never imagined a work life inside the industry, but it happened quite organically.

Radio has also been a passion for Nicole and in 2005 she became a volunteer programmer at WYCE 88.1fm with encouragement from her uncle. Nearly 20 years later, she continues to host a weekly radio program - now serving as the host of a specialty show called “New Standards” where she deep dives into the week’s new music releases. The station features music from independent and ‘under the radar’ artists from all over the world.

Her work experience in producing live events began around the same time as her start at WYCE. She began by assisting in bookings at Juke’s on Leonard and a few years later, was a part of the opening crew at The Meanwhile, which led to landing the role of Venue and Booking Manager for The Pyramid Scheme. During her nearly 11 year tenure, she put on over 2,000 events including local showcases, community-focused experiences, tribute shows, Ladyfests, conferences, meetings, fashion shows, National Acts, artists from all over the world, anniversary shows, after parties, film premieres, exercise classes, contests, private events, dance parties, T Rex Fest, weddings and more.

Throughout her time at The Pyramid Scheme, Nicole also helped produce shows and sessions at The Stone House as well as the first ever Michigan House activation at SXSW in Austin, Texas. She was also approached by GR Magazine to write a monthly feature on local musicians and ‘Liner Notes’ was created. This allowed for deeper connections with artists in the area as well as a chance to work on her writing skills.

Also during this time, Nicole took a staff position at the radio station to help it reach more people. She worked as WYCE’s Community Relations Coordinator from 2008-2016 where she assisted with fundraising, created events, curated concert series and managed volunteer and donor expectations and experiences.

In 2014, she launched a boutique record label, dizzybird records. The label features local and national acts and has been a labor of love, producing mostly vinyl releases and assisting bands with bookings. It recently underwent a rebranding and is starting to shift its focus to event production and promotion.

Since 2018, Nicole has been curating the Concerts Under The Stars series at the Grand Rapids Public Museum - creating events that combine audio and visual artists for one-of-a-kind performances.

Nicole recently resigned as the Director of Programming and Production at the historic Kalamazoo State Theatre, where she was since 2021. The nearly 100 year old theatre needed a revival post-pandemic and she brought a fresh perspective bringing in acts like Kamasi Washington, Digable Planets, Jason Isbell, Sharon Van Etten, Tig Notaro, Silversun Pickups, Chappell Roan and many more.

She is currently talent buying for Bell’s in Kalamazoo, MI.

She’s open to what is next which will likely involve focusing on developing her independent company.

When she isn’t working, Nicole enjoys hanging out with her family, gardening, crosswords, traveling, concerts and exploring.