Guitars, mandolins, banjos, violas - these are the kinds of instruments you hear in a typical song by The Goodnight Fields, a folk quartet of Ball State students whose sound has made them one of Ball State's favorite bands.
The Goodnight Fields drummer Bianca Russelburg, a sophomore telecommunications major, said the band pushed hard to get its name out in the Ball State and Muncie communities.
"We hit the Muncie venues pretty hard last winter and spring," Russelburg said. "Then recently, we did a project where we emailed almost one hundred blogs to get our name out that way. We have pushed to get the word out, but it's usually via free downloads or something like that. We especially looked out for ways in which we could connect with people."
The Goodnight Fields formed at Ball State in Fall 2010. On Wednesday, the band officially said The Goodnight Fields is no more.
"Since its earliest moments, all the band has sought to do was create music with real sentiment and heartfelt honesty for a society that can seem so vastly dominated by the opposite," Russelburg said.
The band gained a lot of exposure when they were selected to perform during Homecoming Week at the Talent Search.
Russelburg said getting named a favorite band is a huge honor and showed how far the band has come during her tenure as the band's drummer, no matter how clich+â-¬ it sounds.
"It's going to sound cheesy, but it really is an honor. When I joined the band, not a lot of people had heard of us," Russelburg said. "So it's pretty mind-blowing and humbling that people would think of us when they voted."
The band released its latest album "Sincerely, Yours" in October 2011. This extended play contains a sampling of some of The Goodnight Field's music from the last few years.
The band has received praise from people like Rob F. of Leicester Bangs - a music review site, who says "...their songwriting has matured considerably [since their debut album Hang On], and lots of promise has turned into something altogether more concrete, and just as enjoyable."
The Goodnight Field's music has folk roots, but also contains many other influences. The band's Facebook page described its sound as "pop folk, in the way that Mumford and Sons, Guster, The Avett Brothers or The Weepies might be considered pop folk."
All the band members play multiple instruments to create the folk and pop sound of the group. Other members of the band include Blake Mohler (vocals, guitars and banjo), Suzanne Dennis (vocals and acoustic guitar) and Pat Hannon (bass, keys, viola and mandolin).
Despite breaking up, the band will be playing a few more shows together until June 10, according to the break up note on Facebook.
Last shows:
April 13 - Muncie - Doc's Music Hall with Trackless and When, Not If
April 22 - Morristown - Morristown Band Fundraiser
May 6 - Muncie - Doc's Music Hall with Joshua Powell, Brother Nature, and Will Sharaya
May 12 - Carmel - Pool House with Will Sharaya
June 10 - Indianapolis - Independent Music and Arts Festival
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