Lila Nelson. Photo by Ian Caliendo.
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Discography
Letter Home (2008) -
    1. Rattle My Attic (3:26)
    2. Do You Got the Time (4:21)
    3. Hold Your Place (3:56)
    4. Secret Agent Eyes (4:31)
    5. Parallel Lines (3:34)
    6. I Was Young When I Left Home (3:39)
    7. Thanksgiving (2:36)
    8. American Miracle (2:19)
    9. Laugh a Little (4:26)
    10. Gravity of Levity (4:20)
    11. Through The Window (2:31)
    12. Let You Go (3:41)

New Release!
Available:
October 21
Notes: Letter Home, haunts, hangs, rattles and bangs. Featuring the production and session work of Freddy Koella (Bob Dylan, K.D. Lang, Doctor John) and Kenny Edwards (Emmylou Harris, Warren Zevon, Linda Ronstadt) as well as Don Heffngton on drums and Stewart Cole on trumpet, Letter Home is as tender as it is dark and deep. Hinging on the proverbial letter that was never written, the entire work is a sincerely spoken recitation. “Secret Agent Eyes” whispers and wails through ethereal electric guitars, with Cole’s part-animal, part-trumpet line rising and falling on the horizon. “Parallel Lines” rambles down the street, the lined page, the garden row—bespeckled with banjo, violins and harmonica. The album unfurls, a smile in slow motion, taking a turn for the wry with “American Miracle,” her very own brand of literate lyri-cynicism. Love songs—equal parts stirring and cerebral—propel the record along. Koella’s vivid arrangement style and taste for the cinematic soundscape—featuring everything from a 19th century Martin guitar to a stainless steel lampshade—underscore Nelson’s uniquely evocative voice and incisive turn of phrase. Altogether, Letter Home is a missive not to be missed.
High Gloss Low Sheen EP (2005) -

  1. Hold it in Your Hand (3:07)
  2. Dirty Magazines (3:53)
  3. Child of this World (4:27)
  4. Love Comes Easily (2:34)
  5. One by One (3:44)
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Notes: High Gloss, Low Sheen starts off simple and sparse with "Hold it in Your Hand." Just voice and piano, it's stark and potent. Next is "Dirty Magazines"..."don't you know they make it hard...for the girl next door not to be hardcore when she's in her own back yard." This is a well crafted song with a well crafted punch line that will have radio programmers holding their breath. Track 3, "Child of this World" is driving, and rich with instrumentation (Ian Caliendo on mbira) and vocal layering. In some ways, this song is the hard hitter with it's hooks, freewheelin' phrasing, pop sensibility and powerfully dissonant under-and-over-tones, both lyrically and musically. The next track, Love Comes Easily, is again simple and well crafted; the delivery is intimate, the movement of the guitar line playful, and the message bittersweet - reminiscent in ways of early Tom Waits. Finally, "One by One" is joyfully dichotomous with a rough and almost-ready production quality. The listener will undoubtedly look forward to the full length album to follow.
Still Got the Farm (2004)

  1. Pool Filling (4:53)
  2. Fresh Paint (4:53)
  3. Jeanette (4:14)
  4. Deadlines (4:35)
  5. Up North (4:53)
  6. Spelling Bee (4:53)
  7. River Night (4:14)
  8. Bodhi Tree (4:35)
  9. Still Got the Farm (4:53)
  10. Michigan Spring (4:53)
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Lila Nelson P.O. Box 4150 Arcata, Ca. 95518
Notes: Still Got the Farm was self-produced with Nelson’s husband and partner Ian Caliendo. With fresh imagery and lyrics that go from pastoral poems ("Up North") to seasonal laments (the opener "Poolfilling" and “Michigan Spring”), this California native captivates the listener with simple, folk songs that convey messages through metaphors without preaching. To illustrate, "Fresh Paint" is a gorgeous song that shelters its politics behind the image of a new paint job, which stands for the quick fixes that today's society is prone to taking: from wars to poverty, these band-aid solutions will never heal the problem. Through lyrics that hint at big money and big oil, Nelson captures the state of the union. (Review from Indie-Music.com)
Live From Arcata (2000)

  1. Boats and Babies
  2. Let Go Your Dreams
  3. Listerene
  4. Santa Cruz Clouds
  5. Early and Late
  6. Little Brownie
  7. Crazy Baby
  8. Wickerware Chair
  9. Early in the Day
  10. Retail Therapy
  11. Silvie
  12. Atilla's Tortilla Press

Out of Print.

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Send $249 cash to:
Lila Nelson P.O. Box 4150 Arcata, Ca. 95518
Notes: "Lila Nelson's Live from Arcata CD captures her appearances at Redwood Yogurt, Muddy Waters and World Premiere Theatre. With vocals sweet as spring rain, Nelson offers a variety of styleseasy folk in "Boats and Babies"; front porch knee slapping with "Early and Late"; the reflective "Early in the Day." She plays for cynical laughs with "Retail Therapy," then wraps herself up in the soaring warmth of "Atilla's Tortilla Press," a striking song of longing, blossoming. " I want...my life to have the roundness of Luisa's tamales and the curve of Rosa's chest." Many of Nelson's songs revolve around babies, and the undercurrent of wistfulness, evokes the same sense of longing in listeners ­ not necessarily desire for a child, but a wanting to fill one's soul with whatever's missing." -Jennifer Savage, Arcata Eye

© 2008 Lila Nelson - All Rights Reserved.