Biography

Embracing a sound that combined the high lonesome mood of traditional country with the edgy emotional energy of contemporary alt-country, the Everybodyfields were an acoustic-based act from Johnson City, TN, anchored by singers and multi-instrumentalists Jill Andrews and Sam Quinn. Describing their music as "harmony-driven songs about leaving, losing and home," the Everybodyfields' story began in 1999, when Andrews and Quinn met while both were working at a summer camp in Walland, TN. Discovering they shared a similar passion for the sorrowful sounds of classic country, Andrews and Quinn (who were both 19 at the time) began writing songs together, and while they parted company for a while after returning to Johnson City, Quinn saw Andrews performing with Dobro player David Richey and asked to join the act. Andrews and Richey agreed, and they formed the first edition of the Everybodyfields. The group's lineup would remain fluid over the next several years, with Andrews and Quinn sometimes performing as a duo, sometimes as a trio with Richey, and sometimes with as many as five musicians on-stage. In 2004, the group released their debut album, Half-Way There: Electricity & the South, which appeared on their own Captain Mexico label. The Everybodyfields' second album, Plague of Dreams, was released by Captain Mexico in the fall of 2005, but in 2006 Richey parted ways with the group to pursue a career in bluegrass music. Andrews and Quinn added Josh Oliver (on guitar and keyboards) and Tom Pryor (on pedal steel) to their regular lineup, and the new version of the Everybodyfields attracted the attention of Ramseur Records, an independent label that had been enjoying great success with the Avett Brothers, who had often shared stages with Andrews and Quinn. Ramseur released the Everybodyfields' third and most ambitious album, Nothing Is Okay, in the summer of 2007. Two years later, however, the bandmates announced their decision to split up, with Jill Andrews and Sam Quinn both going on to launch solo careers. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi