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Songwriter Pete Fields has been ramblin’ again, which means songs are not far behind.
Since last November, Fields has been on a whiteknuckle ride that’s taken him from his former home of Las Cruces, New Mexico to his old former home of the Bay Area in California, finally settling in his future former home of New Orleans in the last month or so. Along the way he’s had to endure helping out his mom after his stepfather passed, to getting let go from his job and, well, COVID-19. Luckily for him and his band Slow Motion Cowboys, Fields is a songwriter whose craftsmanship is very much enriched with the space the highway and outdoors provide, giving him the opportunity to whittle his thoughts and perspectives into the shapes of songs.
He’s already starting to think of the ways in which to write and record a new batch of songs now that he’s more settled in New Orleans, possibly a follow up to Slow Motion Cowboys’ most recent album Sun Burnt Feather. A true troubadour, Fields has always prioritized his songs and has constructed a life of patchwork jobs and travel that all balance on the fulcrum of his songs. It’s not an easy life necessarily, but it is rewarding and one that has allowed Slow Motion Cowboys to flourish resiliently like wildflowers in the desert.
Slow Motion Cowboys are the sound of a calming mind as it travels from the claustrophobic ouroboros of the city to the rejuvenating freedom of the country’s expanse. These acoustic, character-driven tales of have been unhurriedly pieced together from Fields’ memory, one line at a time as the mile markers pass by. There is no rush to the rhythm, no strain to the melody, no pretense to the stories, only gentle space to let Fields’ wandering folk ruminations ripple over you like the wind around your hand as it hangs out the car window, driving down a desolate road. The songs are intimate, easy and you can take them in your backpocket as you skip from town to town, dream to dream.
The group’s latest album Sun Burnt Feather, released at the end of 2019, is another tranquil respite of dusty folk, especially when everything has been turned up to 11 in this country. Songs like “Amnesia Blues” and “Sirens and Shorebirds” warm you like a fire as you shelter in place from a lovesick storm and “Tiger Mountain” is an ode Fields’ father and tracing how we manifest heaven. It’s perfect for a quiet decompression session on the porch after a taxing day and it’s the best Slow Motion Cowboys has sounded, a bar that can hopefully be cleared in the next release.
“Sun Burnt Feather is the first album where I could do things exactly the way I wanted to. I always had other people involved because I was insecure or put out really rough stuff and hope the songs were good enough. But Sun Burnt Feather is exactly what I wanted to hear,” said Fields.
Us too, as we look forward to what the next set of travels may bring for Slow Motion Cowboys and Pete Fields.
Includes unlimited streaming of Sun Burnt Feather
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...more
Sun Burnt Feather, the latest release from Slow Motion Cowboys, hits all the right notes for a countryfied record. Heartache and heartbreak. Loneliness. Love made and love lost.
But a deeper theme runs through these ten tracks, one of transition. Of living in the past while trying to look to the future. Of longing for people and places while realizing that they will never be the same again. You said we’d always have the past / But the future came too soon
Pete Fields, the singer-songwriter at the core of Slow Motion Cowboys, has made transitions of his own. A native San Franciscan, Fields uprooted himself to Las Cruces, in the desert of southern New Mexico. Found myself a place where I can rest in peace / Away from the worries that have haunted me
The move was certainly a change of scene—visually, culturally, musically. “Living in New Mexico gives me the landscape to see everything that’s happened to me more clearly,” he says, “and that allows me to write it all down and connect the dots musically between where I am now and where I was then.”
And so Fields found himself with an opportunity to reflect on transitions, from the yearned-for past to the unknown yet hopeful future. The record is filled with new songs, of course, but old ones too. “I was waiting for the right time to let these old songs shine. But emotion comes with those old songs, memories of what inspired the words. And that has to be confronted.”
Sun Burnt Feather reminds us that everything changes. But while we may want to live in the past, the future just keeps coming, so we’d better start living it up under the gun.
Sounds like...
"If Bozo Texino wrote songs instead of on boxcars grew up in San Francisco in the 90's and was best friends with Ramblin Jack Elliot" - P Fields
credits
released March 31, 2019
Produced by Pete Fields and Derek Richmond
All Songs written by Pete Fields
Pete Fields: Vocals, Guitar
Thomas Johnson: Guitar, Backup Vocals
Bart Bishoff: Guitar, Piano, Mandolin
John Bishoff: Bass
Tim Austin: Drums
Ron Holm: Harmonica
Janel Nelson: Concertina
Chelsea Blake: Background Vocals
Boof Wyman: Background Vocals
Sean Fiddes: Spiritual Advisor
Recorded and Mixed by Derek Richmond at the Sweat Shop, San Leandro, CA
Additional recording and mixing by John Bishoff at JRB Productions, Rockford, Illinois
Mastered by Justin Perkins at Mystery Room Mastering
Art Layout by Derek Richmond and Pete Fields
Band logo by Charles Ertola, Charlie Boy Signs, SF,CA
supported by 21 fans who also own “Sun Burnt Feather”
A very clever songwriter and an album that bears many, many repeat listens. Worth the price for the Little Feat reference (in Tehachapi) alone, but it's her way with an image that sticks longest. "You left the building in a flurry / Had your boots on in the house." Caoimhín
supported by 17 fans who also own “Sun Burnt Feather”
This ain't Texas. This ain't Nashville. This is country that straddles the US and Canadian border. Its wide open, strong, and a little vulnerable, and in a lot of cases having a good ol' time. I love her feel. veenstar
A charity album that celebrates the music of Georgia sees Jason Isbell collaborate with Julien Baker, Brandi Carlile, and more. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 28, 2021
Recorded live at Macon City Auditorium in May 2016, this live set ranks among Jason Isbell's finest, most comprehensive performances. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 22, 2021
supported by 9 fans who also own “Sun Burnt Feather”
Sierra Ferrell's music is the nectar that drips from vocal chords of angels on ecstacy and percocet, dripping with honey, and smelling of grandma's brownies. It has been proven to "cure what ails ya", and it temporarily wards off the existential dread that is slowly encompassing us all. Don't let the absurdity of our existence get you down. Listen to Sierra Ferrell instead.
I am me and I approved this message. oldmanj716