Album Notes

Kim Fields - Vocals, Guitar
Hometown - Kingsport, Tennessee

Kim grew up in a military family moving from state-to-state every couple of years. It was this constant change and variety that afforded Kim the opportunity to taste many styles of music ranging from bluegrass & country, to hard rock, jazz, and funk. She initially strived for acclaim on guitar but through the reactions of her audiences found it was her voice and songwriting that captivated peoples attention. Kim began playing guitar at the age of 10 but gave it up to her love for sports. It was years later at the insistence of friends that she picked up the guitar again. Hungry to makeup for lost time, she immersed herself in music classes. It didn't take long before she discovered her gift for songwriting and the amount of lyrics she had stored inside of her dying for release. These are the songs that make up her first solo release, "Everything Happens for a Reason".

The title came to her after realizing that she had not only survived a tumultuous relationship but came out of it an even stronger person. "It was then that it hit me , if it wasn't for the bad times when I had to reach inside of myself to find something to hold onto, I might not have discovered the healing power of music and how through writing you can come to grips with situations and find your spiritual self." "Learning guitar during that time of my life was my saving grace."

In 1998, Kim was invited by Nettwerk Management to perform at Lillith Fair in Raleigh N.C. It was there that the encouragement began for her to start playing original music she had written over the years. It was out of this encouragement that the duo October Skies, consisting of Kim and Jeanette Phillips was formed. Kim and Jeanette had previously been performing together in various bands for 4 years and over time developed close harmonies reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel.

After receiving such an intense response to her music from fans, Kim decided to enter the studio to record. She invited Jeanette to lend her warm alto voice and out of this recording session, Kim's debut CD "Everything Happens For a Reason" was released. It was also during this recording session that Kim and Jeanette met guitarist Cris Chillura and invited him to join the band. His unique and passionate style of playing the classical guitar and his songwriting add depth to the music of October Skies. Over the past year, October Skies has found themselves delving into a wide array of musical sounds, including country, blues, and soul. This musical diversity attracted the interest of other talented local musicians including Jeff Watson and Mickey Way of the band Downtown and Fred Karam of Four on the Floor. After playing numerous shows together and seeing the reaction from the crowds, these talented musicians decided to join together to form the October Skies Project. Together, their music is strong, the vocals powerful, the lyrics soul touching, and interplay of guitars nothing short of magical. Joining forces never sounded this good.

The name of the band was inspired by the movie "October Sky" when Kim found out that it was about the high school that her Dad Kenny Fields attended during the time of the Rocket Club.