Tekla Waterfield spreads musical identity in Monterey.

Tekla Waterfield describes her passion for music with a contagious energy. “It’s an otherworldly experience,” she explains. “The earth opens up and your soul gets to come shining out. It’s this expression of what we experience as humans.”

The Alaskan-born songstress and guitarist has always been musically inclined. Her mother, Fawn Waterfield, was in folk, rock and bluegrass bands – so by the time Waterfield was 4 she was harmonizing with her sister.

After moving to the Monterey area, she participated in choir with local instructor Denise Hedlind, learning valuable tools like supporting her breath and using her diaphragm with depth.

It was during a brief detour from music – studying and teaching art classes – when singing once again became her clear path.

“You can be stressed out, mad or sad and then you put on music… and your soul is reignited,” she says. “It gets you back in alignment with the beauty of humanity.”

In 2015 Waterfield’s band debuted their album This Nightlife Is Wearing On Me. Her second record is to be released next spring and veers away from recording with a live band, instead including vintage beats and synths.

Produced by musical partner and boyfriend Jeff Fielder, Waterfield compares it to the Twin Peaks soundtrack – “ephemeral, airy, dreamy, haunting,” she says – with other influencers like The Velvet Underground and the lullabies of Gillian Welch.

“My shows will dip around [in genre] – but what unites it all is that it’s my point of view, my voice, my songs.”

In her second show at East Village, Waterfield plays a duet with Fielder, likely featuring bits of her new work. She looks forward to connecting with her former community through the performance: “You’re moving and they’re moving with you – that’s humanity at its best.”

TEKLA WATERFIELD with JEFF FIELDER
7pm Friday, Sept. 30 East Village Coffee Lounge.
$10 suggested donation.
498 Washington St., Monterey. 373-5601,
facebook.com/eastvillagemonterey