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Everything really is 'OK' for The Everybodyfields

By Steve Wildsmith
Of The Daily Times Staff
Originally published: May 25. 2007 3:01AM
Last modified: May 24. 2007 10:57PM

The Everybodyfields (from left, Jill Andrews and Sam Quinn) perform at 3 p.m. Saturday at Smoky Mountain Harley-Davidson in Maryville.

It’s pretty obvious from the title — “Nothing is OK” — that the forthcoming record from Johnson City’s The Everybodyfields is a somber one.

It’s the band’s first release for Ramseur Records (home of The Avett Brothers) and the group’s third overall. And the mood comes from the evolving life experiences of the band’s central members, Sam Quinn and Jill Andrews.

“I would say the biggest thing I’ve been through lately is a break-up, and songwriting is cathartic,” Andrews said. “I can’t always write songs, but when I’m really feeling emotional, that’s always the best time to write songs for me, and I think it’s the same for Sam. When I’m happy, you’d think I could write happy songs, but when I’m sad, it’s the best time for me, and it really does help to get it all out on paper.

“I don’t know how exactly we’ve evolved as a band, only that we have. It seems that we’re really writing more about our lives these days; it’s very truthful as opposed to what it used to be — made up and exaggerated. And when I write, there’s a little part of me that’s cognizant of that, but probably not the biggest part. I really don’t think about generalizing things so that the audience will understand, necessarily; I kind of write from my own experience but try not to get too person so the audience isn’t, ‘Oh, I know exactly who that’s about.’”

Andrews and Quinn met in Blount County — at Camp Wesley Woods in Walland. Working there one summer, they bonded over music, and when they returned to Johnson City, they began writing songs together. After a brief falling-out, they reunited when Quinn saw Andrews performing with former Everybodyfields dobro player David Richey and invited himself into the fold.

They released their first album in the summer of 2004 — “Halfway There: Electricity and the South,” which showcased their multi-instrumental skills and harmonies, a rootsy blend of country and Americana that’s vaguely reminiscent of the ethereal, exquisite songs of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. “Plague of Dreams” followed, and ever since, Quinn said, the instrumental arrangements of the band’s songs has continued to shift.

“‘Plague’ was electric bass, acoustic guitar, dobro and fiddle,” she said. “This new album is electric guitar, piano, drums, lap-steel, fiddle and electric bass. It’s a lot different in that respect. We’ve been playing pretty much live with fiddle and electric guitar for about three months, and before that, we were playing with electric guitar and lap-steel. So we’re always changing the way we play.”

With Ramseur, the band found a label that gave them complete creative control, Andrews said. Founder Dolph Ramseur only heard the new album a few weeks ago (it’s in the mastering phase and is expected to be released this summer). And while the new album will mark a shift in sound and lyrical content for The Everybodyfields, it will no doubt open the door for new fans to discover the band’s music.

“This is really what we’ve always wanted to do,” she said. “We’ve been playing with electric instruments for over a year now, and our fanbase has been growing progressively. The fans are getting used to it, and we’ve never really considered ourselves part of the bluegrass world.

“When David quit, it opened up a whole world of instruments and possibilities for us. He was amazing, but we weren’t sad when he left, because we saw it as a great opportunity to create the sound that our songs were calling for.”