Twenty-eighteen has been both a really trying and surreal year! I’m so thankful to have released my EP, QUARREL, and to have worked with humans who continuously inspire me. This will be our last show of the year, but we’re looking forward to a brighter twenty-nineteen. We’ll be coming through shredding some intentional guts!
Next Sunday, we’re back at the Williamsburg Music Center. Come join us!
How I ended up working with Mackenzie and these musicians/artists was serendipitous as well. As QUARREL couldn’t be possible without another dear friend, Kenyon Phillips! I’m so grateful I’ve found these amazing humans who I can say is my extended family! Thank you family! Thank you Universe!
Finally, as QUARREL is a tribute to my mother and brother, I felt it would make for the best birthday gift to my dear mother, Bernadette McLeod.
https://open.spotify.com/embed/user/2gareth51lnvcbauzrn26o7rp/playlist/7l2EaEv7RTS6sTq0WVhlVe
Drinking Again by Aretha Franklin
Leyendecker by Battles
What Would I Want? Sky by Animal Collective
Deep Cry by Nikkiesha McLeod
Nessun Dorma by Aretha Franklin
The Parting Glass by Mackenzie Shivers
Falling in Love with Love by Ahmad Jamal
On a Highway by Animal Collective
Lilac Wine by Nina Simone
Why Did You Separate Me From the Earth? by Anohni
But For Me by Ahmad Jamal
Atlas by Battles
Execution by Anohni
4 degrees by Anohni
Quarrel by Nikkiesha McLeod
Believe by Mackenzie Shivers
I’m very excited as my debut EP, Quarrel, release and show is happening in a month (October 30th). The release show will be at Rockwood Music Hall, where I’ll share the night with the brilliant and wonderful Mackenzie Shivers. The night will be dedicated to my late mother, as it is her birthday!
Also, Quarrel the single is making waves. Here is a thoughtful review from If It’s Too Loud:
“The second single from Nikkie McLeod’s upcoming EP is a more traditionally structured song than [their] first, “Deep Cry,” was. “Quarrel” moves towards more familiar instrumentation for mainstream American listeners, but there is still plenty of originality for us all. McLeod constructs a song that starts off as a laid back singer/songwriter track, but that simmers with this undefined intensity right below the surface. That lasts for almost four minutes, and then the song restarts as an almost orchestral song. It’s an over six minute song that feels both familiar and experimental.”
Lastly, I made this super dope SPOTIFY PLAYLIST, which includes music by my favorites!
Follow me on SPOTIFY for more music listings!
Happy to announce that my second single, Quarrel, was released this week! You can stream and download on all platforms! Here are a couple:
What they’re saying so far:
The Autumn Roses
“Written soulfully in the Parang style native to their home of Trinidad & Tobago, “Quarrel” is a well of wisdom and the poetic, epic new single from Brooklyn’s Nikkie McLeod.”
SKOPEMAG
“The new single from Afrofuture artist Nikkie McLeod is a swirling storm cloud of trial and tribulation breaking into overcoming resolution. “Quarrel” is a ballad in the form of Parang music, a traditional folk blend from Trinidad & Tobago. Its steady rise and fall captures each breath McLeod pours forth from an aching soul. The title-track is off the upcoming EP, which is a dedication and tribute to their late mother and younger brother, whose birthday is September 8. Quarrel (EP) is out October 30 in honor of their mother’s birthday.”
Both “Quarrel” and “Deep Cry” are on this really dope playlist – CHECK IT OUT!
Finally, I’ll be starting off my three month residency at Williamsburg Music Center this Sunday, September 9th, 9PM.
QUARREL, the album, comes out October 30th, which is also the release show date at Rockwood Music Hall!
Happy to announce that Nikkie & The Revivals will be playing a three month residency at Williamsburg Music Center: September 9th, October 14th & November 11th, 9PM
So, I put together a night of art with two amazing visual artists, Renee Valenti and Esther Hidalgo. It’s a mixed media exhibit with provocative post-modern paintings and avant-garde photography. We see through the eyes of these two women, as their work deals with the convergence of people, relationships, past and present.
Opening Night: April 1st
Time: 6:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Musical Guest: Libel
Where: Fort Useless, 36 Ditmars Street in Brooklyn, one block from the Myrtle Avenue/Broadway stop on the JMZ trains.
Esther Hidalgo likes to use antique and vintage processes to create contemporary works. She received her B.F.A. in Photography from the Corcoran College of Art & Design. Her photographs have been displayed throughout the East Coast and in private collections across the country. She lives and works in Washington, DC.
Artist statement: “You Were Here” is an on-going project documenting scenes of development and urban decay primarily throughout Washington DC. These compositions, taken between 2004 – Present, are meditations on urban life and the intersection between that which is known and forgotten. www.estherhidalgo.com.
Renee Valenti is currently working toward her B.F.A. at Pratt Institute and is looking forward to graduating in December 2011. Previously, she had been pursuing a career in acting, and has enjoyed the cross-over of performing to visual arts, but also seeing ways how they can influence each other. She lives and works in Brooklyn, NYC.
Artist statement: I have been working with recurring topics like relationships and sexuality, day to day human experiences and connections, or disconnect, with others. In some of these works the personal experience of life in the crowded urban environment, particularly New York, has definitely come into play. The squishiness and fluidity of oil paint on canvas, paired with classical techniques has been what I enjoy working with most; however I also explore other mediums such as paper and photography. www.reneevalenti.com
In other news, I will be on the radio, Washington Heights Free Radio (WHFR), this coming Wednesday, March 30 at 8:00 p.m.
I’ve been in a downloading craze lately, mostly Soca and Calypso, but there’s also some Dub, and Indie Music, maybe even metal. Lol, we’ll see on Wednesday.
In the meantime, you can listen to the interview with Mindy Abovitz, Editor-in-Chief, and founder of TOM TOM Magazine, a magazine about female drummers, HERE scroll down to listen.
Bringing you stories, live events, and much more, WHFR tries and remains independent of any corporate sponsorship. So, if you like what WHFR is doing, you can donate by contacting us at info@whfr.org. DIY forever baby!
Also, if you’re in a band or know someone who is, and would like to be on the show, please email me at roarplanet@gmail.com.
Live Wednesday, February 23 at 8:00 p.m. on Washington Heights Free Radio (WHFR)‘s Broad Strokes, Calypso Sally will have special guest, Mindy Abovitz, Editor-in-Chief, and founder of TOM TOM Magazine, a magazine about female drummers.
Broad Strokes streams live off the web every last Wednesday of the month at 8:00pm. I, Calypso Sally, that’s me, try to play a broad range of genres, stretching from indie rock, pop, alternative, noise rock, hip hop, reggae, dance hall, metal, calypso, funk etc. It’s sort of a mixed bag. I also have live acoustic performances. But this month I have media extraordinaire Mindy Abovitz in the house.
She’s going to talk to me about TOM TOM Magazine, women taking over the drum world, the music scene in NYC versus abroad, and how open the media has been with a woman taking on a predominantly male environment. Full throttle, however, she is wiping out the old school mentality!
Mindy Abovitz is a musician and media maker from South Florida currently residing in Brooklyn, NY. She has an undergraduate degree from the University of Florida and a Masters in Media Studies from the New School for Social Research. She has been playing drums for 11 years and has taught at Rock Camp for Girls and Vibe Songmakers. Before starting Tom Tom Magazine, Mindy was an engineer at East Village Radio, worked at Main Drag Music, threw music shows at her loft The Woodser, and played drums for Taigaa, More Teeth, The Good Good, and other Brooklyn bands. In 2009 she started Tom Tom Magazine: A Magazine About Female Drummers because there wasn’t one and media representation of female drummers was poor. She has since put out 5 issues of Tom Tom and plans on putting women musicians in the front and center of the media because that is where they belong. She currently drums for Chica Vas.
COCOYEA 
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