SisterSpace is a three-day women’s music festival that takes place each year the weekend after Labor Day. There are workshops and programs, vendors, various sporting activities and, of course, music. I spoke with two of the artists performing this weekend: the dynamic Gaye Adegbalola, a Blues Music Award winner and founding member of Saffire — The Uppity Blues Women, and the talented Andrea Nardello, often described as a blend of Janis Ian and Janis Joplin. Nardello’s website calls her “a modern torch bearer for the powerful, independent female folk singer.” Some responses from these conversations have been edited for length or clarity.
Gaye Adegbalola
I understand you’re originally from Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Mmm hmm, born and raised and still live here.
What was life like in Fredericksburg?
It was totally racist. It was apartheid. I went to the “colored” school and then the “Negro” school and never really had any interactions with white people until I went to college. I went up north to go to Boston University. It was different. In Fredericksburg, the racism was overt. In Boston, it was covert. Things have changed, but not fast enough. [Laughs] I majored in biology and minored in chemistry, thinking that I was going to be a doctor but I ended up a blues musician!
Well, they both heal people in different ways.
That is true. I taught school for 18 years before I started making music. It wasn’t until I was 44 that I went on the road full time, which was pretty unusual, especially for a woman. With Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women, we played our own instruments and wrote a good deal of our own material. We traveled the world and we made a living playing music. I’m very proud of that. We were a Black, a Jew and a self described “hillbilly!” We haven’t been together as a group for a minute but we’re in negotiations for a possible show in NY. But this is my debut at SisterSpace and I’ll be playing solo with my guitar, which I’ve been doing since 2009. I’ve mostly been doing the blues circuit, so I don’t think I’m as well known on the women’s music scene, but I’m excited to get to know everyone.
It’ll be fun. Are you from a musical family?
Yes, my dad was without a doubt, the most creative person I’ve ever known, and I’ve known some very creative people! He had a little jazz combo, which was just a weekend warrior hobby. But he would put on shows as fundraisers and he would write skits and teach people to dance and sing. Later on, he and I founded a theater group for Black teenagers. Because when the schools supposedly integrated, a lot of the Black youth were sent to predominantly white schools where they weren’t cast in the school plays. They weren’t given the solos in the choir. The only ones who found any acceptance were the boys who excelled in sports. So my dad and I started the theater group as an outlet to fill the gap and give the teens a creative outlet. My mom did a lot of acting when she was in college.
What’s a fun memory that springs to mind?
My mom worked at the teen rec center and they had a big jukebox there. Every time they changed the music, she would bring home the old records so I got to hear Etta James and Ruth Brown and great musicians like that.
We have a sort-of connection. My grandmother was a pianist who used to teach WC Handy and I read that you won the W.C. Handy Award, which is considered the Grammy of the blues industry.
Wow! I’m starting to work on my memoir and I was just writing that yesterday. Unfortunately, the organization has been taken over. It’s mostly white now and they took his name off it and changed the name of the award to the Blues Music Award. It really pissed me off. I’m still mad. They don’t even recognize how racist it was. I mean if the Academy Awards can have an Oscar, why can’t the Blues Awards have a Handy?
Agreed! So what instruments do you play other than vocals?
I play guitar. I play a bit of slide guitar, which I learned very late in life. I play just enough harmonica to add a little texture. It’s a little surprise when I pop up and play. But my main thing is songwriting. I put my son through college with my royalties! I was very proud of that.
Nice! What was a highlight and a lowlight from your career?
Oh geez. I have lots of highlights. First of all, I’m a fan, so it’s been a highlight to have shared the stage with people like Koko Taylor; the Queen of the Blues, Denise LaSalle; and Willie Dixon who’s the greatest blues songwriter of all time. I’ve shared the stage with B.B. King, and just last year, I was doing a show with Mavis Staples on the bill. I didn’t perform with her, but was 10 feet from her, after performing earlier in the program. I also just did a show in June for the Library of Congress. They had years of interviews from House of Blues Radio Hour that were being archived and Dan Aykroyd was the MC. Yours truly was a featured performer and there were so many people they had to turn folks away! And a lot of the pieces I did were some of the songs that I’m going to do at SisterSpace. I’m going to be performing in the late-night show on Friday in the Bessie Smith hall, so I’m going to play classic blues and I might even break out the white tux and bring my most flamboyant self! I’m 80 years old, but I still make a little noise.
I’ll be there! How would you describe your craft?
Mainly, I write stories. I consider myself a griot and I use traditional forms of blues but with contemporary content. You want to take a topic that’s universal. One song of mine is called, “Three Hour Shoes.” Everyone has at least one pair of shoes that you gotta take off after three hours because your feet are killing you, men and women! It’s got a funky bassline, and I set the song in a Black church where the preacher was preaching, and the deacon is praying, and the ushers are collecting, and this woman, who just knows she’s cute, sashays up to the front, but by the time it’s finished, she has to wobble back out because her feet hurt so bad. Something we can all relate to.
For sure.
I first found the blues when I was about 10 years old. I’d listen to Sunny Terry and Brownie McGhee and that informed me about the blues, but then I heard Nina Simone doing her version of “Sugar in My Bones” and she introduced it by saying, “Bessie Smith y’all.” That got me turned onto classic Blues which led me to Ma Rainey, and Ida Cox and Alberta Hunter and so on. I’ve been blessed to have found my power and my purpose.
Andrea Nardello
Are you a Philly person?
I grew up in Mt. Laurel, [N.J.] just 20 minutes outside of the city, but Philly is my home now.
Tell me a little about the family?
I’m the youngest of three. I have two older brothers. We lived in a typical suburban neighborhood — lots of time outside, lots of parties. We’re Italian so there was a lot of cooking and gathering family together. In the neighborhood, it seemed like everyone moved in just as they were starting families, so we had plenty of kids our age to play with. It was a good time.
I have two brothers but I’m in the middle. My younger brother was like my doll and my older brother was a terror.
[Laughing] I was the terror in my family! I’m the definitive baby of the family and thus I was a nightmare child. I’ve rounded out in my old age.
How did that manifest itself?
I’m tiny, just five feet tall, so I felt like I had something to prove constantly. My mom says that I didn’t want to be told what to do, and I wanted to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it. That sometimes led to bad behavior!
What things were you into when not causing trouble?
I loved sports. I played soccer and softball. I also wanted to do everything my brothers did so I played hockey and backyard football. I did karate, anything physical. I wrestled with my brothers and then in about 8th grade, I started to get into music. I did drumline and dance and then started learning guitar and piano after that.
So drums were first?
Yeah, I started on the drum line and then my parents got me a drum set but drums are hard to travel with. Even more than that, they keep you very stationary and I’m a very active person. My older brother played guitar and we had a lot of instruments around the house, including a baby grand piano. I started to fiddle around with them and started to gravitate to the guitar.
What’s the worst fight you got into with one of your brothers?
I think the worst was when I lost my middle brother’s graduation ring. I admired my brothers and I wanted to be like them so I took his ring and then lost it at a volleyball game. I was in big trouble and we got into a big fight after that one! I also remember them squishing me between the twin beds that were in the room!
So did you go on to college?
I did. I got my masters in Communication Studies at WVU in West Virginia. While I was there, I started doing open mics and playing out at bars. Then I went to Atlanta where I recorded my first album. I lived there for about eight years. I started getting a little wind beneath my sails and began touring and then moved back to Philly.
What’s the most difficult part of life as a musician?
Staying creative. You get so bogged down in the administrative stuff, all the online stuff, booking hotels and flights and coordinating logistics. There are six people in my band, so there are a lot of people to communicate and collaborate with and it can be a grind. Sometimes, it can lead to me getting blocked from trying to find my creative path. If you’ve tracked my career, you can see the slumps where it takes a while for me to put something out. You do all the prep work and go on tour and then come home and it’s like, “Oh, now I need to get creative again and write something.” It can be a hard cycle.
Tell me about coming out.
I started a pen-pal relationship with this girl in Florida. I was about 16 and we met online. This was back in AOL chatroom days. We wrote letters back and forth and talked on the phone and I decided to go visit her in Florida. My mom took me for a drive and we sat in the car and she asked me point blank, “Who is Jennifer and what does she mean to you?” So I told her and that had the snowball effect of me telling everyone in my life.
Did you ever meet Jennifer?
I did not. So my mom was like, “Um, you’re not going to Florida to meet someone you met on the internet!” End of story. And her mother also found out and was in the same camp as my mom. We were too young to coordinate a meeting without parental involvement so we never met. I often think about her.
[Laughing] Maybe she’ll be at SisterSpace! Is this your first time and are you there the whole weekend?
That would be funny. It is my first time. I’ll be there Friday and then I have a show at World Cafe Live Saturday and then I’ll try to go back Sunday. I’m really excited. It sounds right up my alley. It’ll be fun to perform and then have a chance to meet people over the weekend.
I read that you had the opportunity to perform with Brandi Carlile.
It was without a doubt one of the best moments in my career and life! I got introduced to her in 2007 through a friend who gave me a Brandi Carlile CD for my birthday. I followed her career from then when she was just starting out and even got to open for her at a fundraiser in 2011. She now does a thing called Brandioke where you submit a tape of you singing one of her songs and if picked, you get to go onstage and sing it with her and her band. So imagine singing in front of thousands of diehard Brandi fans. It’s totally intimidating but also one of the greatest experiences of my life. And they were so nice and fun and gracious. It was a great time. She just lifts people up.
Fun! What are you excited about this weekend?
I love to go to music festivals, whether I’m playing or not. I think it’s such a good way to connect with people and the outdoors. Oftentimes, there are vendors and art, and I love being able to hear all different types of music. It’s one of my favorite things to do. And being able to do it with like-minded people makes it really special. You always walk away with new music and new friendships. It’s just a great way to spend your weekend.
SisterSpace takes place Sept. 6-8. For more information, visit sisterspace.org.
