I’ve got one rule when it comes to hairstylists.
When you find a good one, hold onto them!
The best hairstylists seem to know what to do, what to say, when to listen, and when to let you get back to your day.
That’s how I would describe Tracey Nauman, aka the Hairdresser to the Rock Stars.
Born and raised in Hawaii, Tracey's journey took her from island life to Maryland, and ultimately backstage with rock royalty.
She’s been trusted to cut the hair of some of the most iconic bands in rock history, including Cinderella, Poison, Creed, Skid Row, 3 Doors Down, and countless others.
Tracey is the kind of person who, when you meet her, you feel her undeniable energy.
She’s a lot of things.
Sassy.
Talented.
Confident.
No nonsense.
Fun.
The kind of person with that contagious energy you want to have a beer with.
Her personality today was forged at a very early age when things almost went sideways.
“I was a really nice kid,” Tracey laughed. “Until I was about 13... then I became an absolute nightmare.”
Like most great rock stories, Tracey’s started with rebellion.
Growing up in Honolulu, Hawaii, she was into New Wave before the big-hair ‘80s bands completely hijacked her musical taste.
“Once I heard rock and roll,” she said, “that was it.”
Like for most teens, music was everything.
But her other passion, even then, was hair.
As a little girl, she once wandered away from her mom, squeezed through a crowd, and curiously watched a hairstylist cutting hair live on stage.
In typical Tracey form, she took charge and yelled, “Can you cut my hair next?”
He heard and he did.
Tracey says that was kind of her Wayne’s World moment.
The scene where Wayne sees the white guitar in the music shop.
She instantly knew, “This is what I’m going to do with my life.”
Years later, she still remembers the smell of the coconut mousse and watermelon hairspray from that stylist’s salon.
“I wish I knew his name,” she said. “I’d love to thank him because he inspired my whole life.”
A True Cinderella Story
Tracey loved rock and roll, but she was obsessed with one band in particular.
Cinderella.
She watched Headbangers Ball.
She even sewed a Cinderella patch onto her denim jacket as a teen.
She knew every riff, every video, every move Cinderella’s Jeff LaBar made on stage.
Years later...
A friend invited her to one of their shows.
She met the band.
Jeff LaBar asked what she did for a living.
She said, “I’m a hairdresser.”
LaBar said, “Cool. I need a haircut.”
That was it.
After one appointment, Jeff looked in the mirror and said...
“Holy shit... you’re good.”
From that point on, he started driving more than two hours just to have Tracey work her magic.
Then one day he called Tracey with a simple request.
He said, “I’m going on tour. Come to Vegas.”
As it turned out, it wasn’t just for one haircut.
Tracey ended up riding the Cinderella tour bus to shows all across the country.
Who’s That Girl?
In rock and roll, word travels fast.
Especially if you don’t screw up someone’s hair.
Jeff introduced her to Poison.
Poison introduced her to other bands.
Those bands introduced her to more bands.
Before long, her client list looked like this:
Cinderella
Poison
Skid Row
Creed
Finger Eleven
Candlebox
3 Doors Down
...and plenty more.
The Mohawk
If you’ve followed Chet Roberts, the likable former guitarist of 3 Doors Down, for any period of time, you probably know him as the guy with the signature mohawk.
Tracey is the woman behind that cut.
She laughs remembering the day she finally shaved the sides of his head completely down.
Chet wasn’t worried about how it looked.
He was worried about how it felt.
“He said his head couldn’t decide if it was hot or cold.”
Turns out exposing skin that’s been hidden by hair for decades feels pretty strange.
She even gave him makeup to tone down the bright-white sides of his freshly shaved head.
That haircut soon became a brand.
Fans started recognizing Chet on a completely different level.
They would say, “You’re that mohawk guy from 3 Doors Down.”
That hairstyle had become part of Chet’s identity.
Something Tracey is proud of to this day.
More Than a Hairstylist
Still, not every hairstylist—even the best in the business—gets the call to join a tour.
Tracey is the exception.
She keeps getting that call.
When I asked her why, she didn’t really talk about her talent first.
She talked about trust.
Somewhere along the way, she stopped being just “the hairdresser” and became part of the inner circle for many of rock’s biggest bands—the person artists could relax around, vent to, and laugh with without worrying those conversations would ever leave the room.
They knew what was said on the bus stayed on the bus, or something like that.
In fact, she’s so loyal that she once drove from Maryland to Nashville just to color Chet Roberts’ hair before his first comedy show.
So, how do you earn the trust of rock stars?
That’s how.
Dive Bars Over Stadiums
One of my favorite moments of our interview came during a list of rapid-fire questions.
Here are my questions and her responses.
Big hair or mohawk?
“Depends on the band.”
Leather or denim?
“Leather.”
Stadiums or dive bars?
“Dive bars.”
Why?
“Because that’s where the camaraderie is.”
That’s Tracey in a nutshell.
She loves the music.
But spending time with people she likes and trusts?
That’s everything.
Still Chasing Perfection
Here’s the part that didn’t really surprise me at all.
After decades of working with some of rock’s biggest names, Tracey is still trying to up her game.
She still watches haircut videos every single day.
She still studies techniques.
She still wants to learn.
That’s probably why the phone keeps ringing.
Talent gets you in the room.
Humility and a relentless hunger keep you there.
Final Cut
So, the next time you go watch your favorite band, enjoy the show.
And know there’s someone behind the scenes who helped create the image standing on stage.
For decades, Tracey Nauman has quietly left her fingerprints all over rock and roll.
She has that rare ability to make people believe they’re exactly who they were meant to be… one snip at a time.
What a GREAT life and a Great hairstylist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!