A Q&A With the Next On Deck Lyric Contest Promotion Winner, Nikki Smith

Nikki Smith is the Next On Deck Lyric Contest promotion winner for her song, “Trade It In.”

Smith told American Songwriter that the idea for the song came when she was trying “to sell a car I was deeply attached to.”

“That car held a lot of memories—road trips, conversations, moments that stayed with me, and letting it go felt a lot like a breakup,” she said. “So instead of writing it literally, I leaned into the metaphor. I wrote it as if the car itself was the relationship I was trying to move on from.”

“A lot of the details in the song are true: the mark on the dashboard, the lake we used to drive to, the feeling of sitting behind the wheel and being hit with memories you can’t scrub out, the car lot at the edge of town,” Smith added. “I just shifted the perspective so the emotional truth could take center stage.”

Ultimately, Smith said, the track is about “letting go so you can move forward.”

“On the surface it’s about selling a car, but underneath it’s about releasing something that’s been weighing you down emotionally,” she said. “… It’s about that quiet, powerful decision to step into what’s next, even when it’s hard.”

Read on to learn more about Smith.

Nikki Smith Q&A

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SONGWRITING?

I’ve been writing in one form or another for most of my life. Back in the early 2000s I hosted a country radio show. That was the first time I ever tried writing a song, just dabbling here and there. But it wasn’t until my partner and I did a road trip across in the USA that something really shifted. Being
surrounded by the music, the landscapes, the people, the stories over there and our adventure. That’s when I started writing more seriously. The songs just started coming.

Writing itself has always been a part of me. I used to write pieces for a local paper, community magazines, and newsletters. Even in school I loved creative writing and making up tall stories. So, songwriting became a natural extension of that, taking real moments and turning them into something emotional, storytelling and even cinematic.

WHAT GOT YOU INTO MUSIC IN THE FIRST PLACE?

It wasn’t one single moment. It was more like a slow accumulation over time, but the roots go back to my childhood. My adoptive grandmother was Spanish and incredibly musical. She played electric organ, piano accordion, and harmonica, and she had a beautiful singing voice. Her brothers were the live band on a radio show, so music was woven into that side of the family. She and my grandfather even bought me an accordion and a harmonica when I was little. She passed away when I was five, so I never got the chance to learn from her, but I think that early exposure planted a seed that stayed with me.

Later in life, music also became a place where I could put the things I’d lived through—the roads, the memories, the losses, the grit, and the moments that shaped me. I went through some difficult experiences, including medical mismanagement that changed my life in a very real way. Writing things down whether it was thoughts, stories, or lyrics, became a coping mechanism and a way to process and heal a lot of trauma. For many years I only wrote lyrics, because I couldn’t sing or play an instrument. But discovering AI music tools gave me a way to finally bring those words to life. It opened a door I never thought I’d be able to walk through. It’s allowed me to create the gritty, southern-influenced sound I love.

WHY DID YOU ENTER AMERICAN SONGWRITER’S NEXT ON DECK PROMOTION?

For a long time, my songs were just words on a page. I always kind of hoped there might be a way to get them into the hands of artists, but without music attached, I didn’t think anyone would take them seriously. When I finally found a way to hear my lyrics with instrumentation, it changed everything. It made me realise these weren’t just private thoughts, they were actual songs with stories worth sharing.

When the ad for the Next On Deck Promotion came up on Facebook, my first instinct was to scroll past it. I didn’t think I was competition material. But something in me—maybe courage, maybe timing pushed me to enter. I’d been through a lot in recent years; writing became a way to cope and make sense of everything. Entering felt like a small act of reclaiming myself, a way of saying, “These stories deserve a chance to be heard.” I didn’t enter expecting to win anything. I entered because it felt like the first step toward letting my work out into the world instead of keeping it hidden in notebooks and files.

WHAT DOES WINNING THE LYRIC CONTEST MEAN TO YOU?

Winning the lyric contest feels like someone opened a door I wasn’t sure I was allowed to walk through. For years my writing lived quietly in notebooks, files, and scraps of paper. I never really knew if my lyrics were good enough, but this win feels like a moment of validation. Not in the ego sense, but in a way that says, “Your stories resonate, keep going.”

It actually perfectly mirrors the meaning behind “Trade It In.” The song is about letting go of old ghosts and stepping into what’s next. Winning this contest has given me the confidence to do exactly that. It has encouraged me to take the next step, to stop hiding my work, and to believe that the imagery and emotion in my storytelling truly connects with people. More than anything, it gives me an answer for when the doubt creeps back in. It tells me that there is a place at the table for my words.

WHAT SONGWRITERS DO YOU COUNT AS YOUR BIGGEST INSPIRATIONS? WHY?

I draw inspiration from a few very different artists. They all share the same qualities I value in songwriting: honesty, emotional depth, and a strong sense of identity. Dolly Parton is my absolute favorite. She is the ultimate blueprint the, the gold standard for storytelling—simple, clear, emotional, and unforgettable. Dolly can take an ordinary moment and turn it into something universal. She writes about real life, poverty, and heartbreak with such vivid storytelling and honesty. She’s the Iron Butterfly of songwriting.

P!NK inspires me for a different reason. She writes with raw honesty and emotional courage. There’s no pretending with her, she says the hard things, the messy things, the real things. I connect with that because my own writing often comes from lived experiences and moments that shaped me. She’s fearless in her truth, and that pushes me to be braver in mine.

Amy Lee from Evanescence has influenced the cinematic side of my writing. Her lyrics are atmospheric and emotional, and she creates worlds with her words. Even though my style leans more southern rock, country, and Americana, I’ve always admired the way she blends vulnerability with drama and imagery. I try to bring that same haunting depth into my swampier, acoustic storytelling.

Together, they’ve shaped the way I write—honest, visual, emotional storytelling with a bit of grit and atmosphere.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR PLANS IN 2026.

Up until now, my focus has been on bringing more of my lyrics to life using AI and shaping them into something I can release under my project name, Rust & Roads. Hearing my words with music behind them has opened up a creative world I never thought I’d have access to. I want to keep exploring
that sound and identity.

I also have a song about men’s mental health that means a great deal to me. It’s one of the most important and most raw pieces I’ve written. I’ve been thinking seriously about whether it’s the song I should try to get into the hands of an artist who can carry that message further. The topic matters, and I want to be intentional about how I share it.

More than anything, this win has given me the confidence to take the next step, to keep writing and keep creating. It’s about momentum, growth and allowing myself to move forward as a songwriter.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST CAREER DREAM?

My dream was never about fame or a traditional music career. Just a quiet hope really: to have one of my songs sung by an artist whose voice can carry the emotion I write into my lyrics.

But if I’m sharing my ultimate, secret dream, it actually stems from a very specific moment—the day I heard P!NK and Chris Stapleton sing “Just Say I’m Sorry.” I closed my eyes and instantly pictured myself sitting in a dusty, dimly lit backroads bar in Tennessee, just listening to those two trade verses all night long. That exact vision actually inspired me to write a song called “Backroads Bar In Tennessee.”

Somewhere along the way, that imagined place became a dream in itself. Owning a bar like the one I wrote about, a place where songwriters, travelers, and maybe even a few unexpected legends could wander in and play. It’s not a conventional career dream, but it’s mine: to hear my songs out in the world, and one day to build the kind of place where stories, music, and real moments live.

WHAT WOULD YOU TELL OTHER ARTISTS WHO ARE CONSIDERING ENTERING THE CONTEST?

I would tell them to enter even if they don’t think they’re ready, and especially if they doubt themselves. You don’t need a big following, a polished career, or a studio full of expensive gear to put your work out there—you just need one moment of courage. You never know who your lyrics might resonate with. Sometimes the best validation you’re looking for comes simply from taking the risk and letting your words be seen. Not just from the result. Just take the leap.

Read Nikki Smith’s Contest-Winning Lyrics for “Trade It In”

[Verse 1]
She runs like a dream she starts every time
Not a scratch on the paint not a speck of grime
Top of the line leather and chrome
But I can’t stand the way she drives me home
I pull into the lot at the edge of the town
Where the salesman is watching me slow it down
He asks me “Son why you selling this ride?”
I said “There’s too many memories living inside.”

[Chorus]
Yeah I gotta trade it in gotta let it go
There’s a ghost in the passenger seat riding low
I can’t hit the gas without seeing her face
I need a new set of wheels I need a new space
It ain’t the engine the transmission is sound
It’s just the heartbreak weighing this chassis down
Yeah sign the papers give me something that’s clean
I’m trading in a memory not just a machine

[Verse 2]
I remember the lake where we parked in the dark
I remember the dashboard the stain and the mark
Every song on the radio sounds like a lie
When I look in the mirror and don’t see her eye
I tried to detail the past tried to scrub it away
But her perfume is haunting the cabin today
So give me the keys to that pickup in red
I need to drive out the voices inside of my head

[Chorus]
Yeah I gotta trade it in gotta let it go
There’s a ghost in the passenger seat riding low
I can’t hit the gas without seeing her face
I need a new set of wheels I need a new space
It ain’t the engine the transmission is sound
It’s just the heartbreak weighing this chassis down
Yeah sign the papers give me something that’s clean
I’m trading in a memory not just a machine

[Bridge]
It’s a fair price for a piece of my soul
I’m losing a truck but regaining control
Yeah take the keys… Just take the keys!

[Chorus]
I gotta trade it in gotta let it go
There’s a ghost in the passenger seat riding low
I can’t hit the gas without seeing her face
I need a new set of wheels I need a new space
It ain’t the engine the transmission is sound
It’s just the heartbreak weighing this chassis down
Yeah sign the papers give me something that’s clean
I’m trading in a memory not just a machine

[Outro]
Yeah not just a machine.
Give me something clean.
I’m driving away.
Don’t look back.
I’m regaining control