May 6, 2005
A Word From Nerissa
Hola, Nields fans!
Greetings from me, AKA Bride Brain, nine days before The Wedding. I am deep in the righteous work of choosing fonts, peonies and weighing the relative dryness of champagnes. And as excited as I am about the sweet nuptials that are approaching, there is something else I am looking forward to just as eagerly. The day is finally coming, and it can't come soon enough for me. My sister, Katryna after, a long bout with laryngitis, is braving the polyp and singing with me at Joe's Pub on June 1 for our Book Release party for Plastic Angel. We are cautiously optimistic that she will be significantly better, though we'll know more by late May. In any case, she will be on stage for all the shows in June, even if she has to mouth the words and pantomime with puppets!
I am thrilled to get back on the road, back on the stage. I have several new songs written this winter and spring and some covers we are working up. To see where we are playing, check our tour page. If you go to our news page, you will see to your utter amazement and perhaps, bewilderment, that we are participating on a cruise. Yes. It's true. Patty had her way with us, as she always eventually does, and we are Love Boating it, even though one of us is prone to seasickness and the other is aversive to swimming. (Read: "afraid of the water.") How'd we get hoodwinked into this?
- Patty said, "Oh, come on. Do it! When in your life will you ever get a chance to get paid to sing on a cruise?"
- Patty said Gopher would be there.
- Dave Chalfant said he'd come too.
- Tom said, "If Dave's going I'm going."
- It's not to sunny Puerto Vallarta. It's to rainy Nova Scotia.
- Captain Stubing will not be there.
- We get to sing and play with the Kennedys and Susan Werner!
- Two words: shuffleboard.
- Patty said if we didn't go, she would force us to attend fourteen Connecticut Sun games with her.
- Hello?!?!? Falcon Ridge at SEA?????
For information on sailing with us visit this site.
On another note, if you live in the Northampton, MA area, I urge you to support the River Valley Market. a new whole foods organic type co-op/supermarket (member owned and operated.) It's going to be an amazing community center to rival Whole Foods and they told me they'd even have folk music in their mezzanine! To find out how you can make this happen for our neighborhood (if it's your neighborhood, too) visit their web site.
Happy spring, amigos!
Love,
Nerissa
A Word From Katryna
Dear Friends,
I am sorry that I have been out of touch for so long. I have been busy learning SO much about how to take care of my voice and then doing those things. I just heard last night that Justin Timberlake is about to have surgery to remove vocal nodules from his cords. The tv report called the surgery "routine." I certainly have heard a lot about this surgery from proponents and detractors, but I had never heard it called routine. Hmmm... MTV spin or new medical information. It is a fairly scary thing to say to fans that there is something seriously wrong with your voice. Maybe "management" is telling MTV that it is routine so that no one will think that Justin Timberlake is over. I hope Justin Timberlake will be all right. Many have gone before. Faith Hill, Stevie Nicks, John Hiatt have all had surgery. Apparently James Taylor has had the surgery twice. William thinks he is swell. When William gets sad in the car, I just pop in JT's greatest hits. The opening bars don;t calm him, but as soon as
that sweet voice breaks in, William just enters a totally blissed out state and the crying stops. So maybe I should have surgery too, but that is not the path that I am on.
I have spent the last month seeing a speech pathologist twice a week and a cranio-sacral therapist once a week and I am about to start with a singing coach. I am forever humming to my children. The mmmm sound helps to bring my voice to the front of my mouth and off of my vocal folds. Amelia and WIlliam and I went to the library the other day. We got the book Over in the Meadow. Amelia said, "Mama, will you sing this to me? Oh No! Can you just hum it. I know you can't sing yet." It was very sweet. I am working toward singing at Nerissa's wedding. Then I plan to start singing shows again on June 1st. I am not back to 100% yet (and I just got a cold brought to me by the petri dish that is Amelia's preschool), but I think I am getting better and my speech pathologist/vocal therapist thinks that it is good for me to start exercising my vocal cords. That singing might actually be good for me. At least gentle controlled singing. We are both hopeful that when I return to the doctor and have that lovely camera stuck down my throat that we will see a new picture. That despite the residual hoarseness, my polyp will appear smaller.
This is all so mysterious. Until late May I will not know for sure, but I can say with a certain degree of confidence that I will be singing this summer. I will be touring in June with my great sister and singing songs from her wonderful book, Plastic Angel.
I will bring both kids to NYC for the book release celebration there on June 1st at Joe's Pub. I love this venue. I don't think there is a bad seat or vantage point in the club. It feels like a decadent velvety room. Nerissa will be reading from her book. William will be a bouncing, Amelia
will be a dancing. Nerissa will be a married. And we will be singing. I will be singing. I can hardly believe it. Please come and help us celebrate EVERYTHING.
On June 11 we will head up to vacationland aka Waterville Maine. We are playing a wonderful coffeehouse there. On the way home I will convince Nerissa to stop in Kittery so I can shop at the Hanna Anderson outlet.
On June 17 we are heading to one of our favorite places in the country. Passim. You celebrated with us there when David Ortiz hit the 10th inning home run to win the ALDS last fall. This one may not be quite as exciting as all that, but it will be great. Passim is like home. I can't wait to sing there again.
On June 25 we will be one town away from me in Shelburne Falls, MA where we will continue to celebrate EVERYTHING. I have been wanting to play in these hills near my home for a long time. I am very excited and not JUST because it's a very short commute.
Thank you for your support. I will write again after my visit with the camera. But here's to positive thinking and to seeing all of you this summer. AND to living it up in the Garden!
Katryna
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