With four major tours in the last 12 months and more than 180 gigs performed in 2008 (totalling almost 500 in just over 2 years including a tour with KT Tunstall, The Counting Crows and impromptu sets with Damien Dempsey & Declan O’Rourke), Nell Bryden has been circling the globe, building a passionate following for her Americana‐Country‐Soul hybrid sound.
Having already played the military-bases-in-Iraq circuit last October (2008) (Which she recorded live and made into a spectacular CD from it à la Johnny Cash’s Live At Folsom Prison), she is headed back for a second tour in April. Maintaining her non-political status, Nell has a deep belief in the connecting power of music, which is why she is returning yet again to entertain the troops and boost morale. As she says, “It’s not about whether you are for the war or against the war. It’s about bringing music to people that are far away from home. With music there’s no choosing sides.”
She’s seen firsthand how easily music transcends global borders and demographic divides. Award-winning Documentary filmmaker Susan Cohn Rockefeller is producing and directing a short feature film based on Nell’s upcoming tour through Iraq. Live From Iraq, which is also the title of her CD containing all the live songs from the first tour, will document Nell and her NYC band’s twelve-day jaunt from Victory Stage in Baghdad to the smaller Forward Operating Bases. Through her eyes, Live From Iraq will provide a glimpse into that little seen world of the military overseas.
Keep an eye out for upcoming gigs and an interview with Nell this Summer.
