Dear Keepers of the Faith,
It’s been twenty years since we came to Ann Arbor and played at the beautiful listening room known as The Ark. The last time we were there, I saw some graffiti that read Anna kick a hole in the sky. Which gave me an idea for a song. It’s been eight years since we played Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music (see photo above). The last time we were in Chicago, so many of you came out to support us. (We still remember. It was before the 2016 election. Oh, dear lord. See photos below.)
We rarely travel farther afield than our little northeast corridor, so this Tour marks a profound challenge to our normal inertia. We are hoping with all our hearts and voices that those of you who live within a reasonable radius (closer to the midwest than, say, Hong Kong) will come to our shows! Or, second best, please send your friends who live in those environs to see us. We are super excited to go on this giant Tour. We almost hired a tour bus, but it was cheaper to fly. JK!
Seriously, it’s on my bucket list to someday get to do a tour in a tourbus. If we had a tourbus, we would have booked more than two shows for our Grand Midwestern Tour.
On Monday, I Nerissa got to do an hour-long radio interview with the absolutely delightful Mark Helpmeet of Eau Claire Wisconsin’s Northern Spirit Radio for his show “Song of the Soul,” which was broadcast last night, Thursday, March 7. The focus of the show is to present the artist’s work that “has charted the steps of the their spiritual journey, that has provided a touchstone in the soul's dark night, and sung the hearts awe and joy when come to the Light.” Listen up to hear which five of our songs I discussed.
On Saturday last, Katryna and Dave and I played together at The Drake in Amherst, and it was one of my favorite shows ever in the history of us. (See photo below.)
I’ve been saying that a lot lately after shows: “That was one of our best.” How lucky am I that going on 33 years after we started as The Nields I feel as though we’re improving? I’ve said this before, but there are many rich blessings in never having become superstars. I used to think, “It’s good that we haven’t yet written a hit because there’s always that possibility in front of us.” Now I think, “It’s good that we haven’t yet written a hit because we know that writing a hit doesn’t equal a satisfying and successful career.”
What does success look like to me now? When mine and Katryna’s voices blend just so, each of us letting go of any kind of dominance in order to create equilibrium. When I am both confident enough in my guitar part to both play it competently and also have some brain space to be able to hear what Dave is doing across the stage. When college kids come up to us after the show to buy CDs and tell us they listen to us all the time. (Yes. College kids buy CDs. Who knew. Do you buy CDs?)
That said, we were recently notified by our beloved Barcelona radio show Les Rutes Del So (The Routes of Sound) that our album Circle of Days was awarded Best International Album and Group, and that our song “When I Was a DJ” from that album won Best Song. So that felt good.
We love you! Come to The Ark! Come to Old Town School of Folk!
XOXO, Nerissa and Katryna. Dave too, but he’s not flying to the midwest. If we’d had a tour bus he definitely would have come.
Where Are We Playing?
March 16 Old Town School of Folk Chicago, IL!
March 18 The Ark Ann Arbor, MI!
March 24 The Bread Box, Willimantic, CT
April 13 First Encounter Coffeehouse, Eastham MA 7pm show
May 3 Me & Thee Coffeehouse, Marblehead MA
July 5 Hancock Shaker Village, Pittsfield, MA
July 20 Bryn Mawr Twilight Concerts Bryn Mawr PA, o/f Hoots & Hellmouth
August 8 Caffe Lena’s Saratoga Spring, NY
Please support the new Iron Horse! They’ve become a nonprofit, and as such need a big boost from all of us to make their (AMAZING) new vision come true! (Please donate to the link above, scroll down and choose “Donate to a team” and then choose “The Nields Team: Easy People.”)
Random Poll I Felt Like Making
What is Tidal? Is our music even there?
Album of the Month: Sister Holler
Sister Holler is the only one of our albums findable under the name “Nerissa & Katryna Nields.” We called ourselves this from 2002 until 2008 when we went back to The Nields. Why? If you are interested, write back and I’ll tell you. I get to do this kind of thing because Patty is sick on a cruise ship in some ocean somewhere and isn’t proofreading this newsletter.
Follow us on TikTok! We made this silly version of Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season.” Katryna wrote new words:
I Nerissa am working on a full-length video of “Working on a Building,” but here’s the Insta-reel teaser:
Oh my we loved having you at the UUC here in Peterborough.
Give a shout out to our Nelson, NH neighbors who will be in Ann Arbor for the show!
💕
Thanks,
Martha
Good morning,
I live in Nelson,NH.
We saw you In Peterborough last summer (I wore my Nields tour T shirt)
Neighbors from here in Nelson also,live in Ann Arbor, I told them about you & they just bought tix! I sent them the links for ‘your house is strong’ and America the beautiful’ just to get them in the mood. Please come back to Peterborough.