You have to admire musician Nicole Atkins. Her tunes, which merge elements of pop, country, rock, blues, psychedelia and even a bit of vaudeville, have managed to bring something new to the table. Her melting pot approach to singing and songwriting, which manages to be simultaneously contemporary and nostalgic, has given her much-deserved praise.

Atkins received one of the highest compliments in the music industry before she was even signed to a label. Rolling Stone named the diverse artist one of its Top 10 Artists to Watch.

“It was awesome, and it was completely unexpected,” Atkins said of the magazine’s nod. “Because when I found out I wasn’t even signed at the time, and one of the writers came to one of my shows, because we were playing with one of their friends. So, I found out the day before Valentine’s Day (2006), and I just totally freaked out. It was really weird.

“And then getting the magazine – I just never thought in a million years that I would be in Rolling Stone magazine. But in my mind, when I was younger, I’ve already toured with Led Zeppelin and had dinner with Jimi Hendrix. It’s one of those things you can daydream about, but when it really happens you are, like, ‘what the fuck?’”

Atkins has always had an eclectic taste in music. Growing up in Neptune City, N.J., Atkins favored Traffic and Cream over New Kids on the Block.

The first song she taught herself to play on the guitar was a Grateful Dead tune, and Atkins says she always knew she was a musician.

“I just always was,” she said. “When I was little, I didn’t play house or anything – we played ‘David Lee Roth and the groupies.’ I was little when MTV came to be, and it was my entire life. When I was growing up, it was like, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ Of course, who wouldn’t want to be a rock star? I’ve always sang, and started playing guitar really young. It was the only thing I loved to do, and I couldn’t really imagine doing something with my life that wasn’t fun.”

Her newest album, Neptune City, finds Atkins looking at her hometown with an artistic and discerning eye.

“Most of the songs I write, I just kind of stick with what I know,” she said. “My family has all of these really little dark, tragic stories, but they are really humorous about it when they tell them, so that’s where I take my inspiration from. And I have found through touring most small towns all over America, is that I’m not special, everybody has similar experiences to mine, and that’s why people can relate to the record.

“When I was making the record, I made it out in Sweden,” Atkins said. “My producer Tor – he’s very stoic, very traditionally Swedish; so having to explain all of these little New Jersey heartbreak stories to him was actually kind of funny.”

Neptune City is a blend of many different musical mixtures, and “Maybe Tonight,” brings to mind the girl groups of the ‘60s, and has elicited musical comparisons to Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline and even Roy Orbison.

“When I wrote it (“Maybe Tonight”), because the melody is so ’60s and catchy, I swore that when I wrote it, it was somebody else’s song,” she said. “So I called up all of my friends and I was like, ‘Let me sing you something real quick. Is this mine? Did somebody else write this?’ And they would call me back an hour later and say, ‘No, I think it’s yours.’ Sweet!”

The track “The Way It Is” has drawn the comparisons to Orbison.

“If somebody’s going to compare me to Roy Orbison, he’s like a god to me, so I’m very flattered,” Atkins said. “I guess it all depends on who they are comparing me to, you know, everybody needs a reference point. So, you can get your panties in a bunch about it, but there’s bigger fish to fry.”

Aside from all of the noteworthy comparisons that Atkins has accumulated for her music, Atkins’ style is natural.

“I always loved singing in an old country style, because that’s what feels most comfortable for my voice,” she said. “And, I’ve always been drawn to a really moody way of singing, and then I also really like ’60s garage rock psychedelic groups; so, I’m just trying to figure out a way to combine the two of them.

“And while coming up with the sound, my friend Dave Muller that was producing my stuff with me, neither of us could play electric guitar very well. So I sang all of the lead guitar parts, and then I just harmonized them, and then we came up with the girl group sound by accident. It was like, ‘Wow! It sounds like a girl group because neither one of us could play guitar.’”

Atkins also draws inspiration from films.

“I really like movies and old music in horror movies,” she said. “It’s trying to make a mish mosh of everything I like, not just music, but visuals in film, too.”

In particular, the film oeuvre of director David Lynch speaks to Atkins on a fundamental level, as Lynch’s dark take on the world-at-large synchs up with Atkins’ approach to songwriting.

“I just like how he takes things that seem so pristine and normal and good on the outside, and then exposes all the dirty little secrets and horror underneath them,” she said. “I love how he takes random thoughts and just runs with it; he can make something so much bigger from such a random, dreamy thought – he’s such a modern surrealist.”

As far as her own surreal ascent in the music world, Atkins has enjoyed the sudden recognition, but she’s grounded and realistic about her career.

“It’s been good, and it’s been hard to get your stuff out,” she said. “You have to do a lot of jib and jabbing – it’s a lot more than just writing songs and playing shows now. But, it’s exciting, it’s nice to be able to get out on the road, and actually see that people that send me MySpace messages are actually real people.

“It’s really good to be playing with my band everyday – we’re just getting so much better as a band, that I really think with the next record we are going to be able to take the sound so much further. Not different, just further. It’s been really good, it’s a lot of work, but it’s been really fun.”