Nina Mae Harper

I write all of my own songs, and many are very personal. I write about relationships, everyday life, my journeys across countries, hardship, struggles and the fact that, at 46, and have gathered a few life enhancing experiences that form a great source of inspiration. I write my songs in English, and oftentimes, they end up as country songs or folky tunes.

My live audience at my concerts however, at the moment, is mainly Spanish, with a few foreigners dotted around the room. I address them in Spanish, I announce the songs in Spanish, and then I start to sing, in English. I pour my heart and soul into these songs. I feel the words deeply, but do they actually land?

How do you move and touch a Spanish audience, while bringing storytelling songs in English? It is hard. And sometimes it feels weird and a little pointless.

It´s not as if nobody speaks English here. They do. But between speaking tourist English and understanding poetic English vocabulary in a moody blues ballad, lies a huge distance.

But here I am, in Spain, and here I play, for now. So I will have to accept the fact that some stories will be completely lost on the crowd. However, coming to think of it; I am Dutch, and before moving to the United Kingdom a long time ago, I too was speaking tourist English, and I was not listening to the lyrics of the songs I sang along to. I just knew I loved the tune, the voice or the melody.

I hope I touch people with my melodies and voice. And maybe with the words. That´s a bonus.