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May 28, 2009

Hi all,

The peonies are popping which lets us know that June is right around the corner! But before we turn that corner, we have to tell you about a super cool special show this Saturday May 30 at the Guthrie Center in Stockbridge. The Guthrie Center is AKA Alice's Restaurant from the famed Arlo Guthrie recording circa 1967. Arlo Guthrie is instrumental to our being residents of Western MA. For some reason, while I was in college in New Haven I had a vision of my future in Western Massachusetts, fed only by the vague knowledge that Arlo lived here and made a happy musical family life in the hills of the Berkshires. So when we came of age, we showed up here, too, and I can't imagine a better place, allergies, mosquitoes, 8 months of winter and all. So come on down to the show. You can get anything you want...

Speaking of all that, I am missing my 20th college reunion this weekend. I just can't imagine it would be that fun to show up with a baby and a three year old, even though I know people who do that. They have better nervous systems than I do, or they're just more comfortable with chaos. I am going to spend my weekend instead remembering my college days fondly, seeing one old friend, taking my kids to our first CSA pickup (YAY!!!!) and doing this great gig. Hope to see you there.

June 2-Nerissa's BIRTHDAY! And the anniversary of the day Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in the US. (Both occurred in 1967, as did "Alice's Restaurant." How cosmic!)

June 7-Appel Farm We are part of a really exciting day of music called With A Little Help From My Friends. In place of the usual festival, Appel Farm is hosting a benefit for scholarships to their Young Artist Camp. It's the coolest of line ups: Guy Davis, John Gorka, Vance Gilbert, Grey Eye Glances, Livingston Taylor, the Kennedys, Jeffrey Gaines and more... 2pm-6pm. I am quite sure there will be a lot of musical intermingling. I think this will be a remarkable show.
http://www.appelfarm.org/concerts/benefit/index.html

June 20-Nields Double Header! Cambridge/Watertown MA!! We are performing as part of SummersDay Revels in Watertown MA at 3pm and then doing our own show at Passim in Cambridge at 8pm that night. For those who don't know, Passim is second only to the Iron Horse as Most Favorite Gig, and Revels is one of the main reasons Katryna and I chose this gorgeous lively twisting road called Life As Folksinger. Revels "celebrates the seasons and cycles of human life through the arts, the songs and dances, and the stories from traditional cultures. Audiences recognize the events, desires, and dilemmas from another place and time as their own... A Revels production brings a volunteer chorus of children and adults and professional actors, musicians, designers, and directors into community. At each performance, this community invites the audience to join it. The audience always accepts the invitation, to make noises, to sing carols, to join hands with strangers and dance. Audience participation is the hallmark of Revels."

Hmmm. Sounds like a Nields show.*

* Amelia at age 4 coined the term, throwminating. Def. The act of including the audience in the play. Breaking down the fourth wall and bringing the play into the theater. I had not even taken her to a Revels event yet. I will this year. I have to. There's going to be Irish Step Dancing. That's her favorite.

June 24 Wednesday at 6:30 pm We will once again break all the rules and sing at the library. This time it is the M.N. Spear Library in Shutesbury, MA. We are responsible for kicking off the summer reading program with some singing. Full disclosure, we are actually singing behind Town Hall, but it sounds so cool to say that we are going to be singing in LOUD voices in the the library. You'll have to imagine that. This will be a family show with a mixture of songs for kids, grown ups and maybe even a bit of singing along. Dontcha know.

June 28 Greenfield Energy Park 10th Anniversary Celebration! We are on at 7pm. Greenfield Energy Park is a community greenspace featuring renewable energy exhibits, gardens, native arboretum, caboose museum, concerts, and public art in the heart of downtown Greenfield. Site of former train station. Headquartered at the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA). What's better than supporting renewable energy on a beautiful summer night and listening to music at the same time?

Also, just a heads up, but we REALLY love to sing in libraries. Especially on Wednesdays. So look for us in Easthampton, MA at the library, in the morning, on July 1. We'll be the ones not using our indoor voices and telling you to spend the summer reading. Also we'll be singing.

Announcement: due to frustrating shoulder and back problems, Nerissa is in the market for a new guitar, which means I am also in the market to put two of my old guitars ON the market. One guitar is the jumbo John Ostoff I used for many tracks on This Town Is Wrong. It's a nice rich sounding beauty with Koa wood on the back and sides. The other is my Taylor which I play out almost everywhere I go, otherwise known as the "Hate Free Zone" guitar because it has that sticker on it.

If you want to buy one of these guitars, name a price and we'll talk. If you have a light guitar with onboard electronics that is just screaming my name to you, and you are dying to sell it, let me know. Ideally, I'd like a rich bassy sound AND a light body, but that might not be possible.

I am not blogging as often as I was in March and April because Katryna and I are hard at work on our book tentatively titled All Together Singing in the Kitchen, or The Musical Family. Stay tuned. But I still do blog, and my intention is to post once a week minimum.

Do not forget your favorite grad! Give them the gift of passive aggressive guidance by slipping a copy of How to Be an Adult into their post-grad travel bag.

Happy happy spring! Stop and smell them roses.

Love, Nerissa and Katryna

ps- note from Patty...My Birthday is June 8th. Nerissa thinks that if she does not mention it in the Newsletter, she does not have to get me a gift... she is wrong!

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March 2, 2009

Hi lovelies,

March is doing its Lion boogie. It's a stormy snow day here in Western MA and we are home with our kids. Sesame Street is on in the background. The word of the day is "persistent." One kid said, "that's when you try really really hard even though it's not easy, you keep trying." Hmmm.

We just came back from our first "tour" since I gave birth to Johnny. In the old days, a tour was differentiated from a show by the length of time away from our own beds, and by that demarcation, I'm not sure 2 gigs in Florida would have qualified. But given the new regime of multiple children and several day jobs, this most certainly qualified. While in Florida, we played at a wonderful venue called The Craftsman House, which only has concerts once a month. The rest of the time, it's a cafe and a space for artists and fine craftspeople to sell their work. We were dazzled by what we saw: gorgeous glass work and ceramics and textiles. We made a de facto green room for ourselves in a room in the back where I happened upon a beautiful and intriguing coffee table book which was not for sale; it was propped up in front of the display of pots by Tom Coleman, a renowned ceramacist from the west coast. I don't have room here to tell the whole story, but you can find it here on my blog. Suffice it to say, I was completely inspired by Tom's "Mud Pie Dilemma" and have since quit my own day job. Well, not quit--but I have made the decision to minimize my coaching practice for an indefinite period of time while I focus my energies on parenting and my own creative projects. Katryna and I have big big plans for 2009, and I need every spare non-mommying moment to see them through.

Which brings me to...February Album Writing Month! We did it! We have 14 songs! We will debut one of them, a sequel to "Ash Wednesday" and "Merry Christmas Mr. Jones," this Wed. March 4 on Ed McKeon's radio show on WWUH. I plan to Skype him at 7:45, and I think you can get the station online.

This Friday, March 6, once we've dug ourselves out of our snowbanks, we are taking over the Living Room on the lower east side of Manhattan at 7pm. Our great friend and amazing musician, Cadence Carroll will be opening the show! The Living Room is fast becoming our home in the great city of New York. It'll be over by 9 so come early and rock with us!
154 Ludlow Street
(between Stanton and Rivington)
New York, NY 10002
212-533-7237

On Saturday night, March 7, after a lovely day exploring New York and eating Magnolia cupcakes, we will head out to New Jersey- Watchung Arts Center to be exact. The show is at 8pm. It is an intimate venue at a really cool arts center. We are part of a series called Powerful Women of Song. We better play one of those new songs!
18 Stirling Road, Watchung, NJ 07069
Phone: 908-753-0190
E-mail: wacenter@optonline.net

On Friday, March 13, we are headed to the northwest corner of the fine state of Connecticut. We are playing a GORGEOUS venue called Infinity Hall. Built in 1883 but newly renovated it is an amazing club dedicated to an impressive and eclectic calendar of music. The calendar has everyone from American Idol's Bo Bice to the Average White Band to Judy Collins. They are trying to do something really remarkable and we are so honored to be a part of it. Not far from Hartford, Great Barrington and of course right over the border from our beloved Falcon Ridge. I really think this is going to be a special room to be playing. Come out. We'll do a new song or two. We'll also do your very favorite song. After all, we have esp.
http://www.infinityhall.com

On March 21st we head back to the Boston area. The Circle of Friends Coffeehouse is located in Franklin, MA. This is one of our very favorites. So many great memories of shows here. Let's make some more! RUNA and Shannon Lambert-Ryan will be opening. Circle of Friends Concerts are held at the
First Universalist Society Meetinghouse, 262 Chestnut St, Franklin
Franklin is equidistant from Boston, Providence, and Worcester on I495, about 25 miles southwest of Boston, half way between the Mass Pike (I90) and I95.
http://www.circlefolk.org/index.html

On Saturday March 28 at 3pm we will be making Nields history. This will be our very first FULL BAND Nields show for kids and families. We could not be more excited. The great radio station here in Northampton- The River is sponsoring a fabulous day for kids. It is called Meltdown: The River's Family Music and Book Bash. A Day of music, book readings, food, activities, vendors, and more for kids and the whole family. Saturday, March 28. J.F.K. Middle School. 10 am - 4 pm. Oh it will be fun.

And just a heads up that we are coming to Jammin Java in Vienna VA on Friday April 3, the Iron Horse on April 25 (celebrating Katryna's 40th! birthday), plus at the end of April we are going to be a part of a cool inspiring workshop at Kripalu in the Berkshires with Eliza Gilkyson, Val Denn and Gretchen Peters...

I am terrified that having given up my day job, I will simply default to sleep mode; after all, I am the mother of two tiny insane dictators, and I mean that in the kindest and most compassionate possible way. So I have set myself a challenge to insure that I use my creative time well. I vow to post on my blog at nerissanields.blogspot.com every single day for the month of March. Please join me!

Looking forward to the Lamb days at the end of the month,

Nerissa and Katryna

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February 5, 2009

Dear ones,

I am sure you have all bookmarked February as National Album Writing Month, and that you have all set aside time every other day to write a song (the quota is 14 songs=one album). I have had this on my agenda since last February 29, when, benefiting from Leap Year, I eked out that last pathetic little ditty whose lyric consisted of "Lilalu." This year, we're being much more ambitious: Katryna and I are hoping to complete the songs that will comprise the soundtrack to The Big Idea! And I'm sure there'll be some others in there too. So far, I've written one and a half songs. One is called "Listen To Me Sing"' and it's slated to be the first song we see our narrator writing in The Big Idea, which is the novel I've been working on since January 2001. The second song is called "Scabba Labba Do" and Johnny and Lila think it's the best song ever. (Some of the lyrics: "Please do not say no to me/I really need to climb this tree/I won't fall 'cause I'm a big girl now/Please don't pick me up like that/Can't you see that I'm a cat?/Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow!")

Also, we are performing a LOT! And doing our most extensive tour in months!

So on Friday, Feb 6 we are coming back to New Haven! Nerissa is going to sing this crazy alternate version of Love and China. It is NOT to be missed. We are playing THE SPACE. It is actually in Hamden, CT 295 TREADWELL ST BUILDING H 203 288 6400. Chuck Costa is opening the show. Doors open at 7. The Space is one of those great music venues that has made ambience where there shouldn't be. They have turned this ordinary space into one of the hippest music venues in Connecticut PLUS there is a vintage shop upstairs in case you feel underdressed when you arrive.

On Saturday Feb 7 at 10:30 AM we are going to rock the Jones Library in Amherst MA. The Nields kids shows here are legendary. Get there early to grab a seat. It is not that often that you have permission to sing at the top of your lungs in the library, but this is one of those times. So come with your kids. Come with your voices and your dancing bodies.

The next weekend is Valentine's Day. Which is just another day. So we are staying home.

Then we head to the sunny land of Florida. It has been QUITE a while since we sang in the Sunshine State. On February 19 we head to the New College of Florida in Sarasota. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. Truly. If you come to this show, come early and walk around the campus. It is gorgeous.
http://www.ncf.edu/events-calendar
The Nields: Benefit for WSLR & the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness.
Mildred Sainer Pavilion, 7:00 pm

On February 20 we are playing in St Pete! The Craftsman House 2955 Central Avenue. It has literally been years since we were in this area. The first show already sold out before Christmas so they added a second earlier show. The phone number is 727 323 2787. With over two feet of snow in my front yard, I can safely say that I am really looking forward to seeing all the green grass and sunshine down there. Looking forward to seeing all you Floridians too!

Then we head back up to the freezing, snowy and beautiful Berkshires. We are returning to Kripalu on Feb 28th. I used to think you had to be a bona fide yogi to enjoy Kripalu. But my triangle pose is pathetic and it is still one of the most peaceful places I have ever been. The audiences there are among my favorites anywhere. When I see Kripalu on my calendar, I think my blood pressure actually decreases. Also the food is delicious. Good for you, but really and truly delicious.

Punxsuwtawney Phil says "Six more weeks of winter." I for one am glad. I still haven't made my snowman. My mother says I have to before we go to Florida, so if I do, I will post a photo on our Facebook page. If you haven't "friended" us yet, please do so at NerissaandKatryna Nields.

See you soon!
Love, Nerissa and Katryna

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January 12, 2009

Greetings, beloveds!

It's a cold clear January day. Tom went cross-country skiing last night under a full moon, and Katryna and I met with our long time cabal, Patty and The Smoeviators (not their real name) to plot our new year's schemes for World Domination. To wit:

• We are not participating in the recession
• We are participating in the joyous celebrations surrounding Barack Obama's inauguration
• We want to make more YouTube videos. Preferably with puppets who don't have speech impediments.
• We do not want to wear Tube tops
• We would like to watch more TV (Nerissa)
• We have a new Facebook page identity which we encourage you to Friend (my high school English teacher is most likely so horrified that we now use "friend" as a verb, but I LOVE it!). It's Nerissaandkatryna Nields. That seems to be the only way we could work around the problem of having a joint identity that lets us update our status on a minutely basis. ("Minutely"--see above about my high school English teacher.)
• Nerissa is not participating in the recession, but she IS offering a 10 week teleclass called Journal For Peace-see here for more information.
• Even though we have four small children and two husbands (one each), we are STILL travelling around the continent with a guitar and some voices to sing for those who are also not participating in the recession and want to feel glad about life. So we have gigs coming up for 2009 in New York, New England, Nova Scotia, the DC area, Charlottesville, VA and Florida!

But let me interrupt myself to tell you about the gigs we are doing this month.

1. This Friday, Jan 16 we are playing at the Misson Bar (brand new!) in Pittsfield, the westernest big city in Massachusetts. THEY HAVE TAPAS!
2. This Saturday, Jan 17 we are back at our beloved Sounding Board in West Hartford, CT, one of our favorite shows ever. We promise to play a new song at one of these gigs, even if it's my new 2 line composition, "Babar, the Elephant Rides the Elevator" (that's most of the words to the song, right there in the title.)
3. Next Saturday, Jan 24 we are at what I think will be THE venue of the next decade, the Common Ground in Croton-on-Hudson, NY. This place is FABULOUS! And I'm bringing Johnny with me.

We have lots more to tell you, but I'm not allowed; the Cabal has tied my hands! Patty would deprive me of Italian Roast!

Okay, one more thing: Lila now sings all the words and notes to "Over the Rainbow." Katryna and I recorded it in the key of C for HooteNanny, but Lila much prefers Judy Garland's version in Ab. She says, "I wike when Dorothy sing this, Mama. It's slower." Then she sings it--in Ab, sort of--at Judy's tempo.

Wait, and another: someone just told me this great thing Patti Smith said: "The one thing I try to do is to make sure that at the end of the evening, no one feels as though they were played at." Amen to that. We want to play with you, not at you.

Happy new year!

Love, Nerissa and Katryna

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December 8, 2008

Hi folks,

Greetings and Gigs!
This may have been the least dedicated maternity leave a Nields sister has ever taken, and it's about to be officially OVER! Next weekend, Katryna and I (with little toothless 3 month old Johnny in tow) will be performing at two of our all time favorite venues: Passim in Cambridge, and the Iron Horse in our hometown of Northampton, MA. Both shows will be sensational. How do I know? I just do. I am itching to sing something other than Twinkle Twinkle or Organic Farm. I am itching to see all of you and hear how you've been doing. I can't wait to ask an audience how it feels after the historic election of a competent person for president. I am itching to stay awake past 9pm. And we might even sing a new song. Who knows? Anything is possible. Dave may even show up.

We are also performing December 31 at First Night Northampton: two afternoon Family shows, 2pm and 3pm at First Churches of Northampton. And then, in January, we are playing every weekend, but we'll tell you about that in January. Right this second, I am still on maternity leave.

Song
In the wake of the amazing events of November 4, I am reminded of a song I wrote for my father last February when we were just beginning to think that our wildest dreams might come true about getting our beloved Barack Obama into the White House where his daughters could play with their allergen-free puppy and where his awesome wife Michelle could dazzle the world with her gracious charm and intelligence. Here are the lyrics; the mp3 is up on our website.

When Katryna was in her last year of college, she said, "Daddy, how old were you when you became disillusioned?"
He thought about it. "I don't know. I don't think that's ever happened."
He is the most optimistic person I've ever met. I want to be like him when I grow up. In this day and age, we need hope more than ever. By "hope" I mean that quality that fuels our actions; the thing with feathers, as Emily Dickinson so famously said. We must have the kind of hope that leads to positive, loving actions towards ourselves and our communities if the human race is to survive.

Obviously, this song is also for my son, John Patrick Thomas Nields-Duffy.

Nerissa Nields
Feb. 21, 2008

Other Stuff
Nerissa starts a new session of Writing It Up in the Garden in January 2009. To find out more, go to www.nerissanields.com.

Nerissa and Katryna start a new session of HooteNanny in late January 2009. To find out more, go to www.nerissanields.com/Hoot.html.

Nerissa and Katryna are writing, like, 5 books and scores of songs and planning to make a 45 minute DVD of their music education schtick.

We are chock full of ideas.

We love you and can't wait to see you again soon!

Nerissa and Katryna

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October 22, 2008

Hello friends,

(Are you sick of being called 'friends' by people who may or may not know you? Just checking.) It's the most beautiful time of the year up here in western MA. Tom, Lila and Johnny and I hiked Monument Mountain in the Berkshires last weekend along with half the population of NYC and Boston--it was more like a march than a hike. But it was full of delights nevertheless. Lila picked up a fallen maple leaf and said, "Wook, Mama! A peach weaf!" Leave it to a two year old to point out how much an October leaf resembles an August peach.

We are performing this weekend, Oct. 25 at the Nuclear Free Jubilee at the Brattleboro Commons in Brattleboro, VT. See attached poster for more fun details. We're performing with the wicked cool Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping. I saw his documentary while I was pregnant and I haven't set foot in a mall since (though I have had my share of Starbucks. Have to. Patty works there.) We're on around 1:30. Please come! It'll be super fun.

In November, because I am technically still on maternity leave until Dec. 1, Dave and Katryna are going to perform without me at the Living Room. Now, I have seen this act in many styles and configurations, and I must tell you they are FANTASTIC as a duo! Race don't dally and see Dave and Katryna at the Living Room in NYC on Saturday Nov. 22!

More to come. We've already written new kids songs for HooteNanny and we might just have to perform some of the choice ones at our December shows. Enjoy the weaves. Vote for Obama/Biden and Al Franken if you live in Minnesota.

Love, Nerissa and Katryna

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September 30, 2008

Dear friends and fans,

As I write this, the Dow has just tanked, and I choose to remain optimistic.  In fact, as soon as I finish this email, I plan to go on the Peet's website and spend some precious amount of my monthly caffeine budget ordering some Lion Mountain Keemun tea.  Why am I optimistic?  Probably because I have the cutest baby ever born since May 2006 when Lila showed up. My son's name is Johnny (John Patrick Thomas Nields-Duffy, which works perfectly when sung to the tune of "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt") and he is the light of my life, and I am sure, looking into my children's eyes, that there's a better world a'coming.  But meanwhile, we adults better get on the stick and be the change we wish to see in the world, as our great uncle Gandhi says.  

Also, I get to make music with my sister and our band this month. On Oct 11th, we're doing The GIG OF THE CENTURY!!! this month at Trinity College (okay, the gig of the month, but wow, how cool to be playing with our full band! The last time I performed, I ALSO got to play with a full band.  See why I am optimistic?)  Sadly, Dave Hower, whom my daughter Lila says reminds her of Cookie Monster, will be celebrating his fifth wedding anniversary, so we will instead be joined by the superlative and stupendous Sturgis who ROCKS! (He played with us at Passim last May.) And Paul Kochanski. And Dave Chalfant. We will be playing in the beautiful Garmany Hall Theater (which is in the Austin Arts Center) previously known as the locale of Katryna's Evita revival.  It is part of Trinity's family weekend so there should be lots to do around campus.  Bring your families.  Bring your voices.  Let's raise the roof!

In our house, we love Dave Chalfant.  *sigh*.

On Monday Sept. 22, Katryna and her kids were over at our house for dinner. NPR was turned down int he background. All of a sudden, Tom said, "Hey!  I think it's the piece they were supposed to do on you guys!"  And it was!  We listened as our voices and our father's voice filled the kitchen and we danced around the radio.  "That's mama on the radio!" we shouted to our kids, who weren't that surprised. (See why I am optimistic?)  To hear what we heard, go here.

Then, two days later, Katryna happened to be over again at the same time. This day, the radio wasn't on, but at two minutes to six, the phones started ringing again. Friends from Virginia called to say we were on NPR.  Turns out someone wrote in a wonderful letter thanking them for playing us!  To hear that piece, go here.

See why I am optimistic?

Plus, it's October.  We get to watch two more debates.  We get to watch the leaves change color and fall down and our kids will collect them and make collages with them.  We get to dress our kids up for Halloween and eat our fill of delicata squash (in fact, this summer we actually grew our own, and it is as sweet as shortbread.) We get to eat honeycrisp apples.  No matter how badly the economy tanks, we still get to sing and play the guitar and, if we're lucky, we get to do this with you and see your faces and hear your voices join with ours.

Have I mentioned recently that we have the best fans in the world, and we know it?

Just checking.

Happy October!  See you soon!

Love, Nerissa
PS both Rock All Day Rock All Night AND How to Be an Adult are available on Amazon.  Let your pals know!

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Review of How to be an Adult

Wednesday, May 28, 2008
DAILY HAMPSHIRE GAZETTE
Book Bag

By SUZANNE WILSON Staff Writer

"How To Be An Adult: A Musician's Guide to Navigating Your Twenties"
Nerissa Nields
Illustrated by Katryna Nields

In her introduction, Nerissa Nields writes that this book was originally her younger sister's idea. Katryna, she says, "had just graduated from college and felt clueless ... while trying to figure out things like how to get health insurance and how to pay her taxes on the nonexistent income of a budding folk singer. How are we supposed to know any of this stuff?"

Excellent question. The result is this book, a collaborative work from the sisters who live in this area and have been making music together since 1991. Though the book is written in a breezy, often entertaining, manner, it is in fact packed with practical advice gleaned from interviews the author did with, as she points out, "over 35 actual adults."

The table of contents by itself is worth the price of admission. Among the chapter headings: "How to decide what you want to be when you grow up"; "Failure"; "Organized religion"; "Eight cheap forms of therapy"; "Trash"; "Finding roommates"; "Should you buy or rent"; "Debt"; "Mail clutter"; "Laundry"; "How to fix a broken toilet"; "How to keep in touch with parents."

Jill Stratton, associate dean of students at Washington University in St. Louis, writes that, "As someone who works with college students on a daily basis, I have been waiting for this book to be written. Nields is the big sister and coach we all need when embarking on such an adventure."

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News Of Note

• Nerissa & Katryna participated in National Album Writing Month in February 2008, and recorded 14 new songs in GarageBand. You can hear them all here. Liner notes are in the blog, here.
• Nerissa continues to teach songwriting and writing workshops in Northampton, for both adults and teens. All the info is here.
• A great interview with Nerissa is here.
• Read Nerissa's cover story in the New Haven Advocate here.
• Listen to Nerissa & Katryna on NPR's Here & Now. The broadcast is archived here.
• Listen to Nerissa discuss "When I'm Here" on NPR's All Things Considered. The commentary is archived here.
• Listen to Nerissa & Katryna's appearance on WFUV's Sunday Breakfast, archived here.

now available in bookstores

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