Inside St. Louis

In Town This Week: The Everybodyfields and Mark Pickerel      
    
By Jason Gonulsen     April 2, 2008

“It’s hard for me to write songs – I have to be pretty inspired to do so,” says Jill Andrews, member of the alt-country band, The Everybodyfields, who will be in town this Thursday at Lucas School House.  “I have to be really focused, not answering my phone.  When it starts rolling, I need to not interrupt it.  Because I’m a very social person!”

This social side of Andrews is something you might not realize if you’ve listened to their newest album, Nothing is Okay, which was released in August of 2007.  The songs that Andrews wrote for that album mostly speak of heartache and loss.  It makes for beautiful music, just not something you’d blast at your next barbeque.
Since 1999, Andrews has been singing and making music with Sam Quinn, whom she met at a summer camp.

“I always wanted to be a singer,” Andrews tells me. “My goals in life were to be a singer, to write my own songs, and to play an instrument.  And Sam was one of the people that really helped me realize that I could do that.  I don’t know if I ever envisioned that we would have CDs, and that we would be in a band together.  But I know that the first time we sang together, it was pretty magical.”
Andrews’ voice sort of reminds you of a young Gillian Welch with a sweeter touch.  She finds herself spending a lot of her time on the road, touring with Quinn to get the word out about their music.

“We tour throughout the year. It’s a lot of work.  It’s a lot more work than a lot of people know.  You have to have a mobile office, even mobile relationships! It’s sort of necessary…if you’re trying to get big in Kansas, you’ve gotta go to Kansas.”
But on Thursday, they’re trying to get big in St. Louis—their first visit here.
“We’ll just play a normal show, like we would anywhere else,” Andrews says. “You always feel it out, no matter where you are.  But yeah, it can be a little nerve wracking, going to a town you’ve never played before. I’m not too worried about it, because you’ve got to build a crowd everywhere.”

Although Mark Pickerel was never in the band Nirvana, he once formed The Jury (1998) with Mark Lanegan, Krist Novoselic, and Kurt Cobain.  Nirvana of course went on to record the groundbreaking Nevermind, and the rest is history.
What isn’t history is Pickerel’s music, and you can catch him live this Sunday evening at Off Broadway.  He’ll be playing tunes off his second album, Cody’s Dream, which was recorded as “Mark Pickerel and His Praying Hands.”  It’s bound to be a great show, so come on out and support a great talent.