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Tekla Waterfield was in the hospital in November 2022, convinced God was speaking to her.
“It felt like a near death experience,” the musician says. “I was seeing God through the people that were in the hospital with me, telling me that I shouldn’t give up, that I should be alive, and that my purpose was to sing.”
Waterfield suffered from postpartum psychosis, depression and anxiety. While hospitalized, she wrote lyrics that became the first song on the album Mother Mind, “I Am Alive,” a simple, almost a cappella song which reminds listeners to go back to the basics of food, sleep and support.
Created by Waterfield and Jeff Fielder, Mother Mind is born out of the married musicians’ experiences navigating early parenthood and Waterfield’s postpartum experiences. The Seattle contemporary American folk duo’s album releases Friday, Sept. 5. They’ll showcase the album in Portland the day before with singer-songwriter Navid Eliot at the Showdown Saloon. Previously, Waterfield has played shows at Alberta Street Pub in Northeast Portland, and tells WW that while it’s been awhile since she has been through Portland, she loves to visit.
“It’s just like a fun place to get to play a show and wander around,” she says.
Waterfield and Fielder met at a John Lennon tribute show at Seattle’s Columbia City Theater in 2014. A little over a decade later, they now work out of their home studio, Oliver Blue Studio (named after their late cat), where Fielder produced the album. He is currently touring with the Indigo Girls as a guitarist, squeezing in the Showdown Saloon show while he’s on break.
The acoustic album navigates an incredibly personal tale of grief and motherhood; however, Waterfield tells WW that the songs are written very universally. The album’s storytelling is diarylike, which helped her process her mental health.
“I was carrying around this notebook and it was kind of my lifeline to normalcy,” she says. “I need to be making something and putting it out. Creating music and sharing fills me with a sense of purpose. ”
“Will You Remember Me” features their 2-year-old Eden Fielder and Waterfield’s mother Fawn Waterfield singing together. The piece is part existential, asking, “Will you remember me when I’m gone?” Waterfield says it was initially written while she was pregnant, and she returned back to years later, finding the song’s meaning doubling as a personal reflection to her identity before and after giving birth.
“Keep It Upbeat” is a more lively song on the album inspired by a recording session with Facebook, which paid Waterfield to play more lively music for a few hours. “Sad” explores her experiences with postpartum depression. While Waterfield suffered from symptoms of PTSD after the experience with psychosis, that moment helped her reclaim her purpose as a musician and storyteller.
“Oh, it feels really good,” Waterfield says about the album’s impending release. “It’s a circle: you went through the thing, you processed it, you created something, you shared it and then connected with others, and boom, it’s like a healing has happened.”
SEE IT: Tekla Waterfield and Jeff Fielder at Showdown Saloon, 1195 SE Powell Blvd., 503-784-0623, showdownpdx.com. 8 pm Thursday, Sept. 4. $20. 21+.
