Katryna and
Nerissa Nields are sisters, so they've sung together for most of their lives. You can tell from the
harmonies that their family sang along to good old
bluegrass in addition to folk.
They became the band The Nields with the addition of David, who married Nerissa and became David Nields. Playing around Connecticut (where they lived) and Massachusetts (where i was going to school), they folked it out, and gained popularity. They started touring the United States and sending out cool hand-illustrated (photocopied) newsletters of their exploits.
They have since become a 5-piece band, with the addition of Dave Chalfant on bass (now Dave Nields, as he's married Katryna) and Dave Hower on drums. Their sound's gotten bigger and they're no less fun ("More fun than you can shake a stick at" bosts a Live At the Iron Horse-era t-shirt), but the lyrics (by David and Nerissa) frequently tell the stories of people incredibly alone. The stories veer from tales of teen pregnancy (Ash Wednesday) and alcoholism/abuse (Art of the Gun) to pure fun (Superhero Soup). They're popular on the folk festival circuit. They're nice people. We sent them a postcard from Greece once.
- 1 drummer
- 1 bass
- 1 Hower
- 2 guitars
- 2 sisters
- 2 Dave Nields!
- 3 men
- 3 vocals
- 3 Daves
- 4 Nields
- 5 Nields
OK, discs:
66 Hoxsey Street
Live at the Iron Horse
Bob on the Ceiling
Gotta Get Over Greta
Abigail
Play
Mousse
If You Lived Here You'd Be Home Now
The Nields are now based in Hatfield, MA, and David Nields (the first one) is going to be teaching theater at the Williston Northampton School in Easthampton, MA when my former advisor retires! Yowsa!