A sad song isn't easy to deliver. It can be painful for the listener, but most of all, it can wrench the heart of the singer. The Johnson City (but recently moved to Knoxville!), Tenn, duo of Sam Quinn and Jill Andrews, better known as the everybodyfields, deliver tunes that summon a raw emotion from the deep hills of Appalachia.
On the group's latest record, Nothing Is Okay, the heart isn't just worn on the sleeve - it's worn pumping away in an elevated fist. Their aching harmonies hit the canvas of their delicate sound-scape and tell their story.
The story is of a record that was almost compromised by personal issues between Quinn and Andrews. The two ended a dating relationship just before the release of their debut album in 2004. These issues resurfaced during the making of Nothing Is Okay - the songs were nothing short of painstaking to record.
In an interview with Paste Magazine this summer, Quinn said, "We recorded it three times. Every time we'd go through it, there'd be so much other shit going around, [I'd think], 'Whatever, I just don't even want to listen to this stuff. I don't know if we want to make this. You're out, you're out, I'm not so sure I'm in either.'"
But the two used the process to communicate with each other, and they still have the playful sense to quote Bottle Rocket in a Paste interview.
Quinn and Andrews take the stage tomorrow night at the Bijou Theater here in Knoxville to continue their support of Nothing Is Okay, which was released August 21, 2007 on Ramseur Records. Their sound is fuller than on their previous efforts as they have enlisted the talents of Josh Oliver on electric guitar and keys, and Knoxville's own instrumental Polymath, Tom Pryor on pedal steel.
WARNING: When seeing the everybodyfields live, it is very possible to crush on Jill Andrews - even if you're a girl. It is also possible to have a man-crush on Sam Quinn. Especially when he sound-checks with Neil Young's "Tell My Why."
download the lead track from Nothing Is Okay:
the everybodyfields - aeroplane (mp3)
Jill's interpretations of "nothing is okay":
1. everything is bad
2. when you have nothing, well, that's okay, too
2 comments:
they were just here like 2 weeks ago... literally...
but they played at the beach a few hours away and i only found out the night before. bummer.
man, bummer for sure. they're gonna be back out there in portland for a festival in august. you should try to go then....
michael is ben's man on the boat.
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