Danielle Schnebelen on life and family after Trampled Under Foot

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Last fall, when Trampled Under Foot announced its breakup after 12 years as a KC blues mainstay — and following the sibling act’s most successful year — a collective wail went up.

The mourning period has turned out to be relatively short.

March 10, Danielle Schnebelen’s new Danielle Nicole Band issued an EP titled Wolf Den: six smoldering, slick blues numbers all but sure to thrill any TUF die-hard.

Ahead of that recording’s release show at Knuckleheads Saloon, I chatted with Schnebelen about life after TUF and family planning.

The Pitch: Pretty much immediately following the end of Trampled Under Foot, you started promoting the Danielle Nicole Band. Seems like you were poised for it.

Schnebelen: You know when Kris [Schnebelen, drums] left the band at the beginning of 2014, we knew that we were going to end the project. I had started getting myself together while we toured out the rest of the year with TUF, working on some solo stuff. Being a parent and a working musician, I knew I had to feed my family when TUF was put to bed. I did a handful of gigs with my new lineup on the side last year, and we started focusing on bringing it out in November.

But it was all in the making for a while. In September [2014], I went to New Orleans to make the record. We wanted to give the rest of the year to our fans, so that they’d have some closure for the 12 years we had with TUF. We wanted it to feel like it was an easy transition for everyone.

Tell me about who’s in the Danielle Nicole Band.

The Danielle Nicole Band consists of myself and Shinetop [keyboardist Mike “Shinetop” Sedovic], who we’ve played with for many years. He joined TUF in the beginning of 2014. On drums, from the band Levee Town, we have Jan Faircloth, and our guitarist is Brandon Miller [of the blues act Brandon Miller Band], who has a strong name in Kansas City. So they’re all familiar names and faces, which is nice for everyone regionally, and for myself, also, because we’ve known each other for a long time. I’m big on that. I like feeling like family on the road because that’s all you have when you’re on the road — each other.

How is this band different from TUF, besides the lineup?

I’m singing the whole time. With TUF, Nick [Schnebelen, guitar] and I were splitting vocals, so the main thing is that I’m the only lead singer in the band.

I’m also doing a lot more writing. I’m bringing originals to the table. We’re definitely expanding our foundations as a blues band and getting more into the roots side of things because I didn’t want to pigeonhole myself. I want people to find what inspires them in our songs. I’m doing a lot more of my originals in this band, but there’s a lot of familiarity because I’m still going to have my sound. I think we’re expanding on the varieties of blues that we’ve grown up with and that we’ve been playing for a number of years, which is a good feeling.

Grammy Award–winning producer and guitarist Anders Osborne worked with you on four of Wolf Den’s six songs. How did you come to work with him?

We were in between the TUF tours, in June [2014], and Concord Records — who released our last album, Badlands — approached me about releasing my first solo album. They asked me about really getting out of my comfort zone and recording with different producers. So I went to New Orleans to record with Anders, and I went down there and we got to write with each other and get to know each other. Immediately after I got out of that session, I called my manager and was like, “I have to work with this guy!” We just really responded to each other. So we kept in touch, and it was in September, when we had another week off with TUF, that Shinetop and I went down to record. We had six days to get those tracks down, and we’re so happy with what the record yields. I brought six fully written songs to the table and got to write some with Anders, which was incredible.

What’s happening next for the new band?

We’re getting ready to go on tour with George Thorogood, and then we come back and we’re going to hit some festivals in July. I’m actually seven months pregnant right now, so we’re trying to have a baby in all of this.

Well, you don’t sound busy at all.

[Laughs.] Nature is not without a sense of humor, I’ll tell you that. For me, the main thing is that family has always taken priority, and I had the luxury of being able to prioritize that with TUF because it was my brothers.

Now that I have a band with musicians who have families, I try to stress to them that they need to be there for their kids’ birthdays, and it’s going to be hard to juggle it, but that has to be the priority. Touring becomes tricky, but it’s essential. It’s really easy to lose sight of that when you’ve got dollar signs in your eyes, but what’s better for your emotional health and your family.

I really feel like I’m meant to play and share music with the world, but before that, I’m a mother. I have people who depend on me to raise them and sculpt their minds. Surrounding myself with people who have the same values and surrounding myself with a team that realizes that family is more important than having money any day, that’s crucial.