While most teenagers are focused on school,
clothes, cars and members of the opposite sex, two
Fayetteville teens are focused on the music
industry — and in the words of the late, great Frank
Sinatra — they are going to “do it their way.”
Fifteen-year-old Summer Collins and her cousin,
Isaac Ball, just 19, make up the rising musical duo
known as Summerfi eld. The name, which many think is
a play on Collins’ name, actually is significant to the two.
“We think Summerfield and it’s a thriving
meadow,” said Ball. “Like our music, it’s a changing,
growing thing.”
The two have been involved in music all of their
lives, but it was only last year, when they opened at
the Dogwood Festival that the band gelled. Ball and
his brother came up from Florida to back Collins up
for the festival and her performances. Ball and Collins
clicked and the idea of becoming a band was born.
Two months later, Ball moved to Fayetteville from
Florida and the pair began writing. Over the summer
they wrote more than 30 songs and ultimately selected
15 for their CD, Sunlit Destination.
“There was something there. We knew it was right,
and we knew we could be successful at it,” said Ball.
The band’s sound is eclectic. They are not quite
country and not really pop. Their sound has most often
been referred to as Lady Antebellum playing Taylor
Swift — minus the angst of Swift.
The duo writes music based on their lives to this
point — what they’ve learned and are continuing
to learn. Collins had written four songs prior to her
partnership with Ball. Three of those songs made it
on to the CD. Ball, a classical violinist, had also been
writing prior to his move to Fayetteville, but both found
that the combination of their talents opened up their
creative juices.
“We had weeks where we were writing together
that we were writing all week, and then weeks that we
just sat and played chess,” said Ball.
“Last summer was song writing, chess, writer’s
block, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Raisin
Bran,” added Collins.
“We have seasons that we write in,” said Ball. “It’s
a very on and off process.”
“Sunlit Destination, the title track, is a southern
rock anthem about roads not taken and possibilities.
“Everything,” another song on the CD is about
Ball’s dad.
“You don’t realize what you have until it’s gone. I
got up here and realized how much I missed my Dad,
and the fact that I realized that he made me who I am,”
he explained.
After spending the summer writing songs and
learning about the music industry, the pair headed to
Nashville, Tenn., where they recorded the CD.
“We went up there twice,” said Collins. “While we
were there, I sang all of the songs on the CD and Isaac
laid down all the violin tracks. It was really awesome
being behind the mic and singing all of our songs.”
In between takes, Collins sat on the couch and did
her homework. The music is the focus, but both Collins
and Ball have had to learn how to balance their lives.
“When she’s at school, school is her job, and I
work part-time at Huske,”
explained Ball. “But when
we are home, Summerfield
is our business.”
And business is booming.
“We are completely and
totally independent,” said
Ball. “We were approached
early on by a lot of
producers — multi-platinum
producers, A&R agents
and labels. Summer even
had a written letter from
the producers of American
Idol to allow her to compete
because at the time, she was
too young. But we turned all
of that down. We both own
Rock the Boat Records and
Summerfield Entertainment,
the business arm that
owns the publishing rights
to the duo’s music. We do
this entirely independent
and will continue to do
this independent.”
Taking the independent
route is not easy, and the
two have had to learn about the music industry quickly.
“We already have some of our songs on iTunes and
other sites for distribution,” said Collins. “With radio
play it will become a supply and demand — if people
really want to hear our music then they will play our
songs on the radio.”
“We’ve really had to dive into the business
aspect of our music. We have had to learn about Web
presence, publishing, distribution — getting our music
on the radio,” continued Ball. “We’ve spent a lot of
time reading and learning. A lot of the producers
that we talked to early on have been a great resource.
They’ve said, ‘OK, if you aren’t going to come with me,
at least listen,’ and they’ve given us great advice. It’s
really become a full-time job.”
Pairing that full-time job with their daily lives
makes for long days.
“When I come home I have to do my homework
and then I work on Summerfi eld,” said Collins.
“Summer is being modest,” added Ball “She has
been nominated for Governor’s School. She’s an A
student and is in honor courses. She is one busy girl,
but we stay on her.
“For me it’s been rearranging my schedule. I work
part-time at Huske. We are “indipreneurs” — we run
an independent label, it’s a full-time job. Our business
is our life. That’s what it has become for both of us. It
takes until 3 or 4 a.m. before you go to bed, and we do
that because we believe in our music.”
That belief has led to the development of a fullblown
campaign that began with the recording of their
CD. The next step is getting out and getting their
music heard by the public.
“Part of that is playing shows,” said Ball. “We
are going to headline at the Duck Derby and we will
perform at the Dogwood Festival and at other shows. It
is important that we get out and put our music in front
of the public and let them hear us live.”
This grassroots approach is directed at Fayetteville
first and then the surrounding area.
“We want to get Fayetteville behind us,” said
Ball. “Our heart is in Fayetteville. We started this as a
grassroots campaign, but in the age of YouTube, and
Facebook, France is also grassroots.”
With that in mind, the other half of their campaign
is focused on web dominance.
“We spend a lot of time online,” said Ball. “We are
on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, My Space. We have
more than 1.4 million channel views on YouTube and we
are speaking to people all over the world on a daily basis
through blogging and Twitter. That’s a full-time deal.”
“People are really liking our music and they seem
to like us,” said Collins. “When they listen to our music
and watch our videos, they leave really nice comments.”
The videos, by the way, are also produced, filmed
and acted out by the pair.
“It’s awesome to get a message from somebody
in Austria who said they downloaded the song and it
made their day,” said Ball. “It can be overwhelming.”
But the two have the grounding presence of
Collins’ father Josh, and his wife, Tonia, to help them
out when they get overwhelmed.
“Josh and Tonia are always there to give us advice,”
said Ball. “Sometimes we hash out decisions with them,
but we make the majority of our decisions. We’ve never
had any conflict because we all share the same values.”
To keep up-to-date with the band, visit their
Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/
Summerfield/175839475765506 or see them on
YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/TheSummerfieldBand?feature=mhum.
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