Nichole Ackoury Lanthier has been singing and writing songs since she was a little girl, but it wasn't until she experienced a deep conversion to Christ that those gifts found their purpose. In 2003, Nichole was in the middle of a powerful conversion. With the grace of this new relationship with Christ, and the encouragement of her Life Teen Core team, Nichole began singing for the 5:30 Mass at her home parish in Moss Bluff, Louisiana. Robby Alleman, the keyboard player in the ministry, also happened to be the owner of an independent recording studio (St. Michael Studio). He recognized a special gift in Nichole and started working with her at once. Together they began to write and record songs for what would be Nichole’s first album. The next year, as a senior in high school, Nichole was asked to sing at the Diocesan Youth Conference for the Diocese of Lake Charles, Louisiana. Immediately, her voice and music connected with the young people there, and Nichole has been a part of the music ministry at almost every Diocesan Youth event since then, as well as other events around her Diocese. In 2006 Nichole performed at the Proud 2B Catholic Music Festival in Sulphur, Louisiana. It was at this event that Nichole and Robby released her first self-titled album, consisting of songs they wrote together over the previous three years. The album gained much popularity around the Diocese and was, for many, music to aid their prayer. In the summer of 2007, Nichole married her best friend, Michael Lanthier. Soon after, she began writing, independently, songs for her next album. Nichole wrote about her prayer life and her desire for holiness, but she also wrote many songs for her local Catholic community. Her song “Beautiful” was written for the teens of the Diocese (Nichole had been also working as a youth minister since 2005), and “Adore” was written about her experiences at a monthly night of Adoration called “Experience the Mystery” that was attended by many of her Diocesan family on a regular basis. One song, however, began as deeply personal. “Song for Despair” was written shortly after Nichole and her husband experienced their third miscarriage. At that point, Nichole was trying to reconcile the idea that she might never be able to have children. During the writing process, however, Nichole realized that this song was for her community also. She called to mind those people she knew personally who were suffering, and prayed for them through her song. Shortly after this experience Nichole graduated from college, and found out she was pregnant. During her pregnancy, Nichole continued to be active in music ministry, and even performed a CD release concert for her second album, “Shattered Gracefully”, in her eighth month. Sophia Therese Lanthier was born on January 29, 2009. Nichole took a break from music for a while to adjust to motherhood, but is beginning to write again and looks forward for what’s to come in her ministry. She feels like she is just getting started!