May 28, 2008
Dear Nields friends and fans,
This June, Katryna and I are going to do something we've wanted to do for years: a sing along show.
We "learned" folk music this way: by sitting at the feet of our guitar playing father who seemed to know all the words to all the songs in the world (and our dad, in turn, had learned at the feet of Pete Seeger, who, blacklisted at the time, came to play at our dad's school because Pete's brother was a geography teacher there). By singing along with our music teachers who had learned at the feet of the great Jack Langstaff. By singing along around the campfires in the Adirondacks, where it seemed as though almost every guest had a stringed instrument and a wonderful song to share. And by singing along in the back of the schoolbus, or with our ears up against the speakers of our friends' stereos, or along to the radio in the backseat of the car. This is the way music USED to be passed along, before the age of iTunes and emailing mp3s. For Christmas last year, my husband Tom organized all our sing along books, and I just spent the weekend going through them, picking out my favorites. Katryna is adding hers, and we're being joined by longtime friend Hugh Blumenfeld and new friend Ben Ross, and hopefully, you, for a sing along concert to end all sing along concerts, this Sunday, June 1 at Edwards Church in Northampton, MA at 6:30pm (tickets $10 at Serios, Pleasant St. Video or Cooper's Corner Market in Florence.) This event is a benefit for First Churches of Northampton, a spiritual and cultural local treasure (it's the big brownstone church across the street from the Iron Horse.) They need a new roof, and we want to help. So come, lend your voices and sing along! http://www.firstchurches.org/nields.pdf.
Other shows:
On May 31, we added a local benefit for William's preschool better known as Ashfield Community Preschool. There is a Mayfair there in the morning from 10-1 and then at 1:30 Nerissa and Katryna will sing a set of family music replete with songs of the spring! The Mayfair includes a maypole and other such delights. There will also be a cool bluegrass band closing the show. Ashfield Community Preschool is on Baptist Hill Road in Ashfield. In case of rain we will be at the church on the main drag in Ashfield. If you live in the hills of western MA and you have a kid, this will be a super fun event for your family!
June 7: Rhode Island Sustainable Living Festival, Coventry, RI. How cool is this festival? In addition to having amazing acts (like Cheryl Wheeler and Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus of Dreams), they also have round the clock workshops on sustainable living, such as "What Is Biodiesel?" and "How to Start Your Own Community Garden." We are SO THERE! Oh, yeah, we have to be. But we would go even if they WEREN'T paying us!
June 20: How to Be an Adult reading at Cup & Top in Florence, MA 5:30pm reading. (Singing happens too — like all our books, this one has a soundtrack.)
June 26: We're at the Cushman Library in Bernardston, MA for an 7pm show. 413-648-5402. free show outside by the pond, come listen to the music and feed the ducks.
In other news:
How to Be an Adult is selling like hotcakes! Thank you for buying it! We have a new blog to go along with the book, to answer questions, GET answers to questions (for the topic of how to be an adult is endless, and even though we wrote a book, we are still mostly clueless and could use any advice you want to give us). We'd like to see how other people handle the various obstacles that come up in the fine art of living a life. www.howtobeanadult.com. Today's post is about what to do if you need to go to the bathroom while you're on the road and the next rest stop is 50 miles away. Check out the review below from the Hampshire Gazette.
Our regular Nields blog has an address change, which might not yet be reflected on our website. It's nerissanields.blogspot.com. I try to write a new blog at least once a month, so please come visit.
We finished tracking Rock All Day Rock All Night and Dave Chalfant is putting on the finishing touches! It will be out by Falcon Ridge.
Much more to come in July! Meanwhile, happy June!
Love, Nerissa and Katryna
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