Nancy Nelson

    It’s comforting to know that an artist sings with truth behind their voice. Nancy Nelson, a mezzo-soprano and Mondovi native, began playing guitar and singing at a young age.

After a traumatic experience with sexual abuse, she stopped playing as part of trying to move on. When Nelson picked the guitar back up years later, she was asked by her daughter to record Rock Me, Jesus as a tale of affirmation and providence in the context of a child’s innocence: “You would rock me, Jesus / all through the night / … But I wanted my mommy / to hold me in her arms.”

The result led to an entire CD, Healing Hearts, released late last year. Nelson’s Christian folk features just her voice and guitar, with exceptions on Let Your Love Shine and Glory Bound Train, in which her son Michael accompanies her vocally. On the latter, the galloping rhythm and sing-a-long, circular lyrics resemble a rearranged traditional.

Nelson wrote every song on Healing Hearts, some during or inspired by her recovery from abuse nearly 20 years ago. Catch her upcoming show on June 28 at Valleybrook Church, 412 S. Barstow St., Eau Claire.