Folk heroes turned big-time return

COURTESY ZOE RECORDS Anything but snobby upstarts, the theatrical and literary Nields will invade Toad's Place on Thurs., Nov. 5.

"As a student, I never went to Toad's, even though it's one of the greatest rock clubs in the country. There were people I would have loved to have seen, but I just never did," Nerissa Nields, SM '89, says bemusedly. She hopes that current Yale students are bolder than she was--after all, she, along with her sister Katryna, her husband Dave, and the rest of the Nields, will be taking over the Toad's Place stage on Thurs., Nov. 5, opening for Fastball.

Of course, Nerissa's life at Yale was musical enough even without Toad's, what with starting the folk group Tangled Up in Blue and singing for the Glee Club and Proof of the Pudding. As any TUiB fan hardcore enough to read the liner notes for their most recent album, Struggle for a Goat, can tell you, they still use several arrangements by "N. Nields."

Nerissa isn't the Nields' only connection to Yale and New Haven. Upperclassmen may remember drummer Dave Hower's local punk band Ghostshirts, and several Yale students had Nields for teachers at Loomis Chaffee while the band was getting off the ground. Most importantly, the Nields have an impressive following at Yale. Longtime fans trade copies of 1992's 66 Hoxsey Street and other hard-to-get early recordings. One Branford suite held a party earlier this semester to celebrate the release of Play, the Nields' newest, and to listen to the album with proper ceremony.

Nerissa hesitates when asked why she thinks her music is so popular at Yale. "Is it popular?" she asks. "I'm glad! Besides our personal connection, we tend to have a following of college-age, sensitive, intelligent people--which is nice. Also, our songs are literate, and Yale students tend to be literate. I don't want to sound snobby, and there's such a danger as a Yalie of sounding snobby."

Their folksy sound, clever lyrics, and combination of guitars, distinctive harmonies (mostly by Nerissa and Katryna), and creative background instruments are reminiscent of Grey Eye Glances and Dar Williams. Nerissa and Katryna have actually sung backup on all of Williams' albums since they met her in 1992 when the musicians were double-booked at a Boston club.

Williams had precedence and the Nields had a sound system, so the two groups made a deal and split the time. As Nerissa says, "she was playing for five people in these little open mics in Boston, and we were doing the same thing in Connecticut. We loved Dar, and Dar loved us, and it was just like, `Let's be friends.'"

Soon after, Williams moved to Northampton, Mass., the Nields' home base, and the two groups were struggling artists together--that is, until they broke into the national scene.

Play, the title of the Nields' newest album, refers not only to their playful lyrics and musical style, but also to the fact that the album is set up as a play (a trait most obvious in the liner notes). After the songs were recorded, the band fit them, along with a few independent quotes, into the format of a two-act play.

"I thought it was a great idea," says Nerissa. "It brings to mind the fact that we have a reputation for being a literary band, but we also have a reputation for being a theatrical band. You can't really know about the Nields if you haven't seen us live, because there's something that happens onstage that's totally different from our records." Yalies will have the chance to judge that for themselves this Thursday.

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