Pierson plans CD release concert

NORWAY — Heather Pierson will release a new CD, “The Open Road,” at a very special concert at the First Universalist Church of Norway on Sunday, October 28 at 3 p.m.

“The Open Road,” Heather’s sixth CD release, is a collection of 14 instrumental piano pieces composed by Heather and recorded at Baked Beans Recording Studio in Harrison. The CD showcases Heather’s passionate and deeply personal neo-classical stylings and her exquisite, feathery touch that are so familiar to her fans.

“The Open Road” also features “The Heartland Songs” – six pieces that are a musical homage to Heather’s birthplace of Joplin, MO and to the rural southeast corner of Kansas, where Heather spent the first five years of her life. The CD is dedicated to Helen T. Davidson, formerly of Hebron, who is Heather’s childhood piano teacher.

The sanctuary of the “Norway UU,” with its nearly 120-year-old Steinway grand piano, will be the perfect setting in which to hear these pieces, many of which are being performed publicly for the very first time.

Heather is the winner of this year’s New England Songwriting Contest and has been touring and performing extensively in the last two years in support of her 2010 release, “Make It Mine.”

She recently returned from New Orleans, where she and her bassist and partner Shawn Nadeau studied traditional jazz and performed together at the legendary Preservation Hall.

The First Universalist Church is located at 479 Main St. in Norway. Each ticket bearer will receive a free copy of “The Open Road” at the performance on October 28. Tickets are just $15 and will be available at the door or may be purchased on-line at www.heatherpierson.com.