Jill Andrews with Matt Butcher

The sad demise of the everybodyfields didn’t take long to sprout silver linings, as both Sam Quinn (with his new band Japan Ten) and Jill Andrews have moved on gracefully and creatively. In Andrews’ case, marriage and motherhood never threatened to put her music on ice. In fact, they only seemed to encourage her progression, as she assembled a new band of first-class Knoxville musicians (including everybodyfields holdover Josh Oliver on keyboards) and headed to Scott Minor’s Elkgang studio to record her self-titled debut EP. The six tracks on the record don’t showcase a drastic new direction so much as a steady, continuing glide toward greater things, with plenty of the sadness and vulnerability that made Andrews’ everybodyfields contributions so affecting. Standout track “A Way Out,” for example, was written for an old friend battling a drug addiction, while the gorgeous “These Words” tugs at broken heart strings as effectively as any ballad you’ll hear this year. As for learning to write from the “happier place” that is now her life, Andrews says it’s a work in progress, like many things. (Andrew Clayman)