About

The Nields­­

November

November is the Nields 20th album. With each song inspired by the headlines, the cover of the CD is, fittingly, a newspaper design. Though the songs tackle critical issues––the climate crisis (“The Kids Always Get It”), injustice at the border (“Goodbye, Mexico,” “Jesus Was a Refugee”), the fragility of our democracy (“America the Beautiful”)––the message of hope pulses through each track, a strong and steady heartbeat. In “Follow that Girl,” an eleven-year-old rides her bike to school in all kinds of weather, inspiring her mother to give up her minivan. “We’re Gonna Build a Boat” assures all who struggle with the results of the 2016 election that together we can “make it safe to come back home.” Set to a driving disco beat, “November” imagines an election day when we will celebrate together. “Butterfly” focuses on the struggle and triumph of a young person’s metamorphosis as they come out as who they really are. “Tyrants Always Fall” was written the day before the 2017 inauguration, and it has come to be known as the “Resistance Anthem” in many circles. For the two familiar songs –“This Land Is Your Land” and “America the Beautiful”—the Nields are joined by a bevy of others, including Dar Williams, Chris Smither, Peter Mulvey, Vance Gilbert, Ben Demerath, Kalliope Jones, and their own children, plus members of a local  youth chorus.  The lyrics of “America the Beautiful” have been tinkered with (“And crown thy good in neighborhoods…”) to reflect what today’s poets might hope for our country.

TRACK LIST

America the Beautiful (with Chris Smither, Dar Williams, Vance Gilbert, Peter Mulvey, Kalliope Jones, and Ben Demerath)
Tyrants Always Fall
We’re Gonna Build a Boat
Follow That Girl
The Kids Always Get It
Butterfly
Goodbye, Mexico
November
Jesus Was a Refugee (with Sol y Canto)
This Land is Your Land (with members of Focus Chorus, some of whom are our kids)

Praise for the Nields

On first listen, some might glibly categorize this acoustic folk trio-turned-modern rock quintet as Alanis Fronts the Indigo Girls. But listen to [the Nields] twice and you’ll start to catch the twists in the tales, the quirks and ironies that make every song a short story. And then you’ll be hooked.
-SPIN Magazine

Imagine if Natalie Merchant had a sister with an equally good voice singing perfect harmony with her…intimate and electric.
-Sing Out! Magazine

If you don’t like the Nields, you need to get your ears checked.
-ESP, Winston-Salem

A masterful mix of modern folk with an alternative edge.
-Minneapolis Star Tribune

[The Nields] sounds like the Roches meets the Cranberries, but with better songwriting and better vocal harmonies.
-Cincinnati Enquirer

If there’s one constant here, it’s The Nields sisters’ beautifully sweet vocal harmonies that sound eerily like the Roches singing Lush in a really big room. It’s infectious stuff.
-Austin Chronicle

The marvelously expressive Katryna and Nerissa Nields provide vocals sounding at various times very much like the Bangles, the Roches and …Alanis Morrissette…a delightful discovery.
-Chicago Tribune

…a gentle explosion of high-strung harmonies and spare arrangements of songs that snap like cinnamon sticks. They ride their dynamics from literally whispered passages over tick-tocking sidestick or no drums at all, up to electric squalls that push Katryna and sister Nerissa Nields’ vocals without overwhelming them.
-Musician Magazine

As the work of the Everly Brothers or the McGarrigle Sisters has amply demonstrated, there are few sounds as sublime as close harmonies rendered by siblings. In the case of western Massachusetts folk rockers the Nields, the siblings are sisters Nerissa and Katryna Nields, and their inimitable vocal blend is a disarming mix of clean folk harmonies and clenched Generation-X angst.
-The Chicago Tribune

Guitarist Nerissa has written the clear-eyed, literary lyrics and sister Katryna has provided a gloriously eccentric vocal delivery …Lots of backward glances and relationship foibles punctuate this quiet collection, which is ideal for harmony addicts and dreamers alike.
-Billboard Magazine