July 4, 2007
Dear Readers,
It's the Fourth of July. Last weekend we celebrated our grandmother's 100th birthday. All of her descendents gathered in church and we sang America The Beautiful:
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
Did you ever notice that second verse? I laughed out loud in church, which might not have seemed very nice, but it just was so appropos! Our own president, former oilman, etc. told us we were addicted to oil, and in these days of raised consciousness about climate change, it's impossible to hear Katharine Lee Bates's gorgeous song without thinking of the kind of self-control we will need to exert to change our profligate ways.
I also love the tenderness with which she asks God to mend our every flaw, as if we were sweet befuddled children, which we are.
What about "Thy liberty in law?" I would love to continue ranting about the Supreme Court's latest bout of decisions, but Patty won't let me; she'll say I need to get to the point, which is about MUSIC and GIGS and our CD.
So instead, I'll say this: Lila was playing with my ball point pen in a way that was not exactly childproof, and the line "The pen is mightier than the sword" came to mind, but not for the usual reasons. Then I ruminated on that line, and thought, "The tune is mightier than the pen." Anyone who has had "Video Killed the Radio Star" stuck in her head for 27 years knows what I mean when I say that.
Music heals. Music lifts us to another dimension. Standing in church with my family, my 100 year old grandmother, my one year old baby, my parents who have worked for justice all their lives, my sister and singing partner and belting out the words to what should be our national anthem, I felt such great joy I thought we would levitate or at least lift the roof of that peaceful Virginia church.
O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife.
Who more than self the country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
We came home from church and ate lunch. As we were eating, the topic turned to the kind of patriotism my parents grew up with, in the shadow of the depression, as the country was recovering from the mind-blowing victory over Hitler and the reconstruction of Europe. Cold War aside, there was lots of good news to celebrate in those days, or at least so it seemed. My grandfather had volunteered for the army in 1941 – he was too old to fight, but he wanted to serve, so he went to Greece and translated secret documents. Someone remarked that it was a shame that so few people felt so called to serve their country today.
I said I thought there were plenty of people willing to serve the planet, and that that was a higher calling. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm not, but I believe loving the planet IS loving the country, and it's the "more than self" that really counts.
Back to music. Pete Seeger, my hero, cleaned up the Hudson River with music (and a bunch of amazing volunteers). This weekend, on seven continents, our colleagues are singing and playing to draw awareness to climate change and to join together to find ways to combat it. (http://liveearth.org/). On 7/7/07, we (Nerissa and Katryna Nields) will be throwing our voices and spririts into the mix in Winnipeg, Manitoba at the amazing Winnipeg Folk Festival. This is a truly amazing place to be on the second weekend in July; we've been fortunate to have played the festival four times previously, and it's one of our favorite spots on earth.
On what would have been Woody Guthrie's 95th birthday, we will be doing a special concert at my church in West Cummington, MA. This is a regular Nields show, with all the new songs, old songs, ridiculous stories, Katryna's wild dancing antics and Nerissa's guitar shredding mania, but this gig is special because it's Woody's birthday and we promise to weave his legacy into our show. Please come! Join us as we try to raise the roof.
(This church is magical. The music director is the famed Penny Schultz, an angel with the deftness of a hummingbird. She teaches music so skillfully that you don't know you've been taught; instead the music feels as though it has been transmitted directly into your mouth. The minister, Stephen Philbrick, a renowned poet and shepherd, reads as often from the Tao as he does from the Bible and preaches from the very center of his experience. I have written extensively about the church on my blog at www.nields.com.)
And then, our new CD, Sister Holler, comes out, officially at Falcon Ridge; available in stores and online after that. You'll get a whole other email about that.
Meanwhile, Happy Independence Day. May you celebrate what is great about this country and work and plan towards making it even better for your children and their children.
Love, Nerissa and Katryna
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