Sam Quinn steps into the open

Sam Quinn, formerly of the Everybodyfields, is now a solo act. He is pictured on Monday, May. 3, 2010 at the Forks of the River Wildlife Management Area.

Sam Quinn, formerly of the Everybodyfields, is now a solo act. He is pictured on Monday, May. 3, 2010 at the Forks of the River Wildlife Management Area.

KNOXVILLE — Singer-songwriter Sam Quinn isn't exactly thrilled about his new roommate.

"There's a bird that's built a nest in my football helmet - and there's eggs in it," says Quinn over lunch at Buddy's Bar-B-Q on Chapman Highway.

Quinn's place of residence is a converted garage apartment with a hole just big enough for wildlife to gain entry, and Quinn is too softhearted to evict a mother-to-be. Even a noisy and fussy one.

"It's literally about six feet from my head when I sleep," he says.

Until the summer of 2009, Quinn was half of the creative core of the Everybodyfields, a group he formed with Jill Andrews after the two met as camp counselors in 1999. The group survived the duo's romance and break-up and developed a dedicated national following for their beautiful and sometimes bleak songs. The group's final effort was titled "Nothing Is Okay," an apt title in retrospect. The group disbanded shortly after relocating from Johnson City to Knoxville, and Quinn and Andrews went their separate ways. Andrews was the first to release an EP. Quinn will celebrate the release of his first solo album, "The Fake That Sank a Thousand Ships," on May 14.

The break up of the Everybodyfields, he says, was not easy.

"It was totally upsetting. It was all starting to pay off and we could live comfortably. Suddenly it was gone. Months of tour dates were canceled, and it left a lot of people holding the bag."

He acknowledges that it might have been a better career move to have gotten a new album out sooner.

"It took a while to reset my bearings and such," says Quinn. "I was kind of beat at the end of the old band. I had these new tunes, but I was kind of running on fumes. I really wondered if I wanted to do it at all. (Making music) proved to be fun a lot of the time, but a lot of it is (expletive) work. I gave thought to going back to school and doing my dream gig of being a college English teacher. I think I could get into the college lifestyle - or maybe I've just seen too many movies."

He performed a few shows as Sam Quinn and Japan Ten with former Everybodyfields members and then spent several months living outside of Charlotte, N.C. Even when he returned to Knoxville he wasn't sure he was going to return to music.

"I was getting pretty comfortable just sitting around here," he says. "You know, you have time for a garden, relationships ... but I figured if I didn't do this now I would never do it again."

He now has a national tour booked that stretches from Massachusetts to Wisconsin.

Although the new album is filled with some of the same melancholy that marked Quinn's work in the Everybodyfields, the feel of music is less tense and remorseful. It's also a fuller-sounding work.

"Between recording 'Nothing Is Okay' and this album I did listen to a lot of pop music," says Quinn. "Sometimes you need to hear some 'C'mon get happy' music."

Some of that was the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" box which includes versions of the "Pet Sounds" songs featuring only the vocals.

"I needed to pull myself out of the sadness slump. I've made my sad little records, but I wanted to work with some new sounds, new textures."

He says swimming, Mexican food and a relaxed studio atmosphere all helped the vibe of the album.

And the post-band breakup chill between Quinn and Andrews has begun to thaw.

"At first we were kind of babystepping around this musical stuff, but now we ask about each other's shows," says Quinn. "I don't know if we'll ever play together in a band again, but we get along."

Audiences who miss the Everybodyfields seem ready for music from both artists. Venue bookers are already familiar with Quinn, so he isn't having to start from scratch.

A few days after the interview, a sleepy-sounding Quinn is on the phone line as we set up a time for photographs. "By the way," he says. "The eggs hatched. It's not been that cool. It's not been that cool at all."

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