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Screening of Susan Rockefeller’s documentary “Striking A Chord”

March 21, 2011  

My friends at Hesso Media threw me a fun birthday party on March 8 in London, and then the following week I flew back home to New York to see my family. There was a screening of Susan Rockefeller’s Iraq documentary “Striking A Chord” in Amherst, Massachusetts that I played and spoke at. I went to high school in Amherst, and hadn’t performed there since I left at 18. It was pretty validating to see my name up in lights on the marquee, especially since I felt so insecure and unhappy in this town as a teenager. The director of my high school musicals came out to see the show, and it was one of those moments of, “oh wow, look how far I’ve come.” But the real joy was seeing the faces of the brave troops I was privileged to have met, finally up there on the big screen. It’s so rare to see a human side of our soldiers, since often they are used as political pawns in whatever bipartisan media war is going on back home. This was the first screening I got to be a part of, even though the documentary has already been making the rounds at film festivals.

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Event with Janice Dickinson for London Fashion Week

February 23, 2011  

Did an event with Janice Dickinson for London Fashion Week tonight. She was actually a very nice lady, but it was pretty weird standing next to the world’s first supermodel, who’s still skinny as a 10-speed bike and about 7 feet tall. Thank God I’m a musician.

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Meeting Mark Knopfler on the Jimmy Webb tour

February 19, 2011  

Just finished up the last tour dates with Jimmy Webb, Oklahoma songwriting legend now based in New York. We got to be friends along the way, and I was trying to pick up tips for how he wrote all those classics like “Wichita Lineman,” “McArthur Park,” “Up Up and Away,” and “Galveston.” At the Queen Elizabeth Hall show, Jimmy’s friend Mark Knopfler was there, and without knowing it was me, he said to Jimmy, “did you hear that opening act? She had a voice as big as a house! Made the sound system sound great.” Well, well, Mark, I aim to please. After a few weeks on the road though, I’m glad to be home in my London apartment.

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Bob Dylan tribute in Glasgow with Roseanne Cash

January 24, 2011  

Finished up a wee tour of Scotland with the Bob Dylan tribute night in Glasgow. Roseanne Cash was also on the bill, and she is one cool chick. I loved her purple velvet shoes. The band and I played “Just Like A Woman” and “All Along the Watchtower” and Roseanne apparently tweeted that I was her favorite of the night. Hot damn.  Radio DJ and friend Bob Harris hosted the evening.  Highlights of the evening are being broadcast on Sky Arts, and on Bob Harris’ BBC Radio 2 show.

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Round One in the Studio!

January 17, 2011  

Round One in the Studio! Thanks to the radio airplay from my last record, I’ve got just enough savings to record the first four songs in the studio.  Producer Mark Taylor has put together a great group of musicians, all good friends but incredible session players in their own right. Ash Soan is on drums, Ben Epstein is on bass, Patrick Mascall is fiddling with knobs and fussing over his amps, playing baritone guitar and electric guitar, Adam Phillips is on electric guitar, Andy Wallace is playing piano, Wurlitzer and B3 Hammond Organ, and Ren Swan is engineering. It’s a real band feel, as everyone knows each other and we’re going for a live sound. We’re going to record at State of the Ark in Richmond, London. They have the most amazing vintage equipment, with an old EMI board in the control room that the Stones used. Mick and Keith have scratched their names into the fader tracks. We’ve got three days to do the first four tracks of the album, and then will do all overdubs back at Mark’s studio at Metrophonic.

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Classic Americana delivered in a cinematic film-noir setting

January 06, 2011  

Mark Taylor, an incredibly talented Grammy-winning producer who’s had several #1 hits in America and the UK with Cher and James Morrisson, has started pre-production work with me on my new album. It’s a coup to get him involved, and this is a passion project for him (translation: there’s no budget, but he’s giving it his all because he believes in the songs). My main co-writer Patrick Mascall and I have been meeting with Mark to discuss what sonic direction we want to go in, which is basically T Bone Burnett meets Daniel Lanois. I love the idea of classic Americana delivered in a cinematic film-noir setting. We keep listening to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss “Raising Sand,” as well as Plant’s new album “Band of Joy.” It’s like a contemporary version of the old classics, soaked in reverb and baritone guitars. How ironic to be a girl from Brooklyn making music with a bunch of Brits that sounds like an album recorded in Nashville.

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Packed show at the Borderline

January 05, 2011  

Played a packed show at the Borderline in London tonight. Thanks to everyone who came out. My parents were visiting in town, and you made me look real good.

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Living “Beyond the Wire” 

January 02, 2011  

After working on new songs for awhile now, I’ve amassed a healthy pool of material to choose from.  It’s been an adventurous last few years for me touring in Europe and visiting Iraq to play for the troops, and living as an ex-pat in London.  Clearly all the experiences so far from home have inspired me, as I’ve been living “beyond the wire.”  There are about 40 songs in the running now, but only 11 will make the eventual cut for the new album.  Some of them I wrote on my own, like I’ve always done, and some of them were co-written at Metrophonic Studios in England.  It’s been a new experiment for me to co-write, and I’ve learned a lot about what makes a great song in the process.  I’m not sure why I avoided it for so long – maybe it was my ego getting the better of me or the only child in me not wanting to share?  Now I realize that collaborating with other people has made me see things in a way I wouldn’t have if I simply locked myself away in a room on my own.  I’ve been digging into my Bruce Springsteen records for lyrical inspiration, and trying to follow the classic melodic models of Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Willie Nelson.  I know I’m shooting for the moon with this new album, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

Abbey Road

November 30, 2009  

Last weekend I got to check another item in my “Legendary British places to see” To-Do list. I sang at Abbey Road!! It was every bit as inspiring as I suspected it would be.

On Sunday, I joined a host of celebrities (including Paul Rogers from Bad Company, Barry Gibb of the Bee-Gees, and Michael Bolton) to record a charity song for the war veteran’s foundation Help for Heroes.

The event was sponsored by Audi, so a sexy black limo showed up to take me to Abbey Road. What did I listen to on my iPod during the ride there? The Beatles, of course!

TV cameras waited to film my emergence from the car. (Don’t worry, I learned from the mistakes of Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears: always exit from the car door on the far side of the cameras. And — ladies, please — ALWAYS wear panties!).

Hearing the London Philharmonic Orchestra tune up in that hallowed Studio A, with it’s impossibly tall ceilings and generously wide expanse, sent chills down my spine. What acoustics!

It was no small production they had going, either. After the orchestra, they recorded both a gospel choir and a children’s choir, as well as a military brass band. The Sun newspaper was footing the bill. Clearly no expense was spared.

When it was time to herd all the celebrity vocalists into the live room to record the choruses, I will admit I wondered whether it served any musical purpose other than posing for the TV cameras. It was like what I imagine singing on Live Aid or We Are the World was like — no one can hear anything, and everyone’s jockeying to be heard. But that’s not really the point: it was good fun, it was for a good cause, and again: check off Abbey Road on the ole’ bucket list for Nell.

Hmm… What next? Singing for the Queen? Well, we can only dream.

Sometimes it’s good to be a woman

October 30, 2009  

As Tammy Wynette so plaintively sang, “Sometimes it’s hard to be a woman.” But sometimes it’s so much fun!

Like right now: I’m in a car on my way to rehearse with my London band for the 75th Anniversary of Maida Vale Studios. Being the ultimate girl, I got my hair done in a special beehive just for the occasion — thank you Bel at the Painted Lady in Shoreditch. My (albeit short) nails are painted red. I’ve got three dresses – no, one or two wouldn’t do – to choose from. All three dresses go wonderfully with my Gibson guitar. Don’t worry, I don’t plan on wearing them all! No costume changes, thank you. I may be a girl but I’m not a diva.

I’m relieved to be back in the game. This week I flew home to NYC for my cousin’s wedding and contracted some horrible plague from the plane which totally stole my voice for a solid week. Ick to all you horrid germ-spreaders out there.

But I’m smiling again today! The band and I are debuting my new single on Radio 2 tonight, “Not Like Loving You.” Then I think I’ll swing my hips to a little Johnny Cash. A friend of mine (Tony Bennett’s daughter, Johanna) once paid me the ultimate compliment: she called me Johnny Cash in a dress. Or three dresses, in this case.

Sometimes it’s GREAT to be a woman.

My record comes out today!!

October 12, 2009  

Tour with Ben Taylor kicked off last night at Bush Hall in London. Bush Hall is a beautiful venue, with high ceilings and antique wall friezes, a joy to sing in. And my record comes out officially today!! I’m doing a day of radio at the BBC, and then tomorrow my drummer and I will pack up and hit the road, touring for the next week with Ben. We hit Sheffield, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Newcastle, and even go as far North as Aberdeen, Scotland. I’ve heard its freezing already up there! Better pick up some sweaters before we leave… Hmm, Topshop is just around the corner from the BBC.

You can buy What Does It Take from…
MP3:
iTunes UK, iTunes Ireland, HMV, Amazon, 7Digital and Play.com
CD:
Amazon, HMV, and Play.com

We Are Family Foundation Gala – 5th October, NY

October 06, 2009  

It was a star-studded affair at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan last night!  Legendary producer Nile Rogers (of Chic) threw his annual We Are Family Foundation Gala with his lovely partner Nancy Hunt.  This year they honored Desmond Tutu, Google Earth, and Susan and David Rockefeller, Jr.

I lucked out in so many ways for my first hometown red carpet event.  First of all, I found this incredible Alberto Ferretti dress in a thrift store, straight off the runway with the tags still attached.  Then, my friend Michelle Edgar, the beauty editor of OK Magazine, hooked me up with her friends at the Ted Gibson salon on 5th avenue, and senior stylist Liam braided my hair in a loose up-do.  The necklace is a borrowed piece – a Russian antique with diamonds, rubies, and pearls.  Rosie Perez hosted the night (that voice is so recognizable!)

My band and I opened the evening with Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready.”  The first note I played, I broke a string on my 1946 Gibson L-12 guitar.  Maybe my guitar was nervous!  Because after the song, I went to sit at my assigned table and realized my dinner partner was none other than Henry Gibson Guitar Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz.  How cool is that?!

Film director Susan Cohn Rockefeller accepted an award with her husband David Rockefeller Jr. for all the philanthropic work they have done together.  Then Susan screened a clip from her new documentary about my tour to Iraq to play for the troops.  It was the first time I had seen it! Here we were, all these fancy movers and shakers sitting in our black-tie gowns in a glitzy Manhattan ballroom, watching footage of me wearing camouflage body armor playing in the desert with dust storms everywhere.

After dinner, Kool and the Gang took to the stage and the whole room got up to boogie.  Now there is a band with a tight rhythm section.  Nile Rogers closed out the night with his band Chic, and before I knew it I was in a limo on my way home.  It was my first limo ride – no I never took one to the prom!  As I watched the twinkling city lights whiz by on 7th avenue, I thought to myself: “I have the coolest f*cking life EVER.”

Nile & Nell

Nile & Nell

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