Nerissa Campbell: about
~The Heartfelt Howl, The Whisper of Love~
Nerissa Campbell sings songs of moodiness and of melancholy - stories of desire and the sorrows of losing loved things, the weight of depression and the lightness of being. Her music - its roots in jazz, also weaves its way through somber pop-ballads, bluesy folk songs, moody instrumentals and a lyricism full of thought and space.
It is a fine blend of styles dipped in a smoky beer batter of late night living. There's an easy, swingin' film noir feeling that evokes dark bars and mystery dames and her voice is wistful and melancholy, like Billie Holiday singing a Nick Cave song.
The blues is here, too, but it plays hide and seek with space and sound, creating a depth of feeling beyond the obvious. Her songs roil in the smoke of forgotten bars and express a love of many styles and thoughts.
Ms. Campbell has developed a unique and deeply personal writing and performing voice. There is a sincere, raw and open emotional quality to her songs. Her voice shifts in mood and expressiveness, becoming rough and syrupy, plaintive, or smooth and sexy. She delivers a song with the laid-back assurance and attitude of a young Peggy Lee. Campbell is indicative of our time, - a time when categories are ignored and walls between types of music have been torn down.
Where she comes from (further background)
NERISSA CAMPBELL started her music career in her hometown of Perth, Australia in 1996. Singing from the jazz standard songbook, she entertained West Australians for 5 years before starting to write her own songs and imagining life in a bigger city. She moved to Melbourne in 1999 and then onto New York City in 2001. She knew no one, but a love of adventure and travel (encouraged by her Mother at a very young age) was enough to get by.
Starting out by 'sitting in' wherever she could, singing jazz standards in corners of busy restaurants and waiting tables to pay the rent, she soon moved towards performing her own material in places where people listened. Her heartfelt howl and whispers of love enthralled her audiences, and slowly her attention shifted from being an interpreter of song to an inventor.
Nerissa comes from an un-musical family ** and was extremely disappointed when her Mother sold her piano when Nerissa was 7. Two years later, after acing her recorder lessons, Nerissa got her Mum back by lugging home a French Horn. A musician was born. Learning early on the hardships of being a musician, Nerissa practiced endlessly in the family laundry, and carried her instrument (which was half her 9-year-old size) to school every day. She moved schools and switched to trumpet, which she was asked to practice in the back yard with the cabbages, then added flute, which she was allowed to practice inside as long it entailed a gripping rendition of Stairway To Heaven by Led Zeppelin. A school excursion to the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts when she was 14 sealed her decision to become a professional musician. After auditioning on her various instruments of choice, Nerissa was accepted into WAAPA majoring in vocals, of which she had no experience, but an immense love for. Destiny showed her the way!
** This is not entirely true. While there was no one in her immediate family who played music as she grew up, there was definitely some generational skipping going on. Nerissa's great -Grandma and -Aunt were an opera singer and concert pianist respectively.
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Campbell holds a Certificate of Music and an Associate Degree of Performing Arts (Jazz) from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. She currently lives in Brooklyn, NY where she moved to in 2001. She has performed in many an underground music joint, and graced stages the world over, but can mostly be found singing at the comfy and loving musical home of the 55 Bar in the West Village. Unless of course, she is on tour!