{"id":31139,"date":"2026-06-17T05:30:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T09:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=31139"},"modified":"2026-03-24T10:11:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T14:11:42","slug":"lee-fields-every-date-is-a-talent-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/17\/lee-fields-every-date-is-a-talent-show\/","title":{"rendered":"Lee Fields: Every Date is a Talent Show"},"content":{"rendered":"

NOTE: This feature references a live date that took place in April 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n

Lee Fields was in love with music from an early age. But by age 13, music wasn\u2019t the only passion of Wilson, N.C.-born Fields. \u201cMy interest at the time was to become a businessman,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI thought [a career in] music was for other people.\u201d Still, he was inspired enough to pick up and learn how to play the bass guitar. But then a stage opportunity set him on another path.<\/p>\n

A talent show was scheduled in his hometown. \u201cA friend of mine dared me to go up and sing,\u201d Fields recalls. He mustered his courage, took the stage and delivered a rousing cover of \u201cTry Me,\u201d a No. 1 hit on the r&b charts in 1958 for James Brown and the Famous Flames.<\/p>\n

The audience reaction caught Fields by surprise. \u201cAll the girls started screaming,\u201d he says with a broad smile. \u201cI won the talent show. And the girls have been screaming ever since.\u201d Fields comes to the Orange Peel April 2.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

After that talent show, Fields\u2019 bass guitar went back into its case. \u201cIt was easy to play,\u201d he admits, \u201cbut there were a lot of bass players who were better than me.\u201d Applying his business acumen to his budding musical career, he made a decision to focus solely on singing. \u201cSo I told Lee on bass, \u2018You\u2019re fired,\u2019\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Fields\u2019 recording career got underway before he celebrated his 20th<\/sup> birthday. His recorded debut, 1969\u2019s \u201cBewildered\u201d b\/w \u201cTell Her I Love Her\u201d was a soulful slow jam in the style of James Brown. That record ushered in a steady stream of 45 r.p.m. releases, all for small independent record labels. By the end of the \u201870s, Fields had released at least 16 singles. But his debut album Let\u2019s Talk it Over<\/i> wouldn\u2019t appear until 1979; today, original copies of that record are highly sought after by collectors and serious fans of funk and soul.<\/p>\n

But with the rising popularity of disco, Fields found that his brand of soul music was in decreased demand. So he took a break from performing, turning his attention toward a long-term strategy. \u201cI took time out to study the industry,\u201d he explains. \u201cBecause the way I was taught how to [succeed] wasn\u2019t working any more.\u201d He developed a plan that would empower him to connect with the decision-makers and influences in the music industry. And when he was ready, Fields resumed his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I\u2019m working all the time, all over the world,\u201d he says. \u201cSo apparently I must have hit on something.\u201d Between 1981 and 2000 Lee Fields released more than 15 singles. A highlight among those is the funky \u201cShake It Lady, Shake It,\u201d a 1984 single and a co-write with Parliament-Funkadelic co-founder Bernie Worrell. Fields\u2019 1993 dance-oriented album Enough is Enough<\/i> \u2013 today a collectors\u2019 item as well \u2013 showcased his writing skills. In the decade to follow, Fields made up for time, releasing more than an album per year. But his biggest breakthroughs hadn\u2019t yet come.<\/p>\n

One of the labels for which he recorded split and reorganized; the new labels were Daptone and Soul Fire. Fields would cut material for both. He also appeared on releases by his friend and label mate Sharon Jones with her band, the Dap-Kings. By 2012 and the release of Faithful Man<\/i>, Fields was an in-demand touring performer, singing his songs to audiences around the globe.<\/p>\n

\u201cI write 99% of my songs,\u201d he says.\u201dAll the lyrics are mine.\u201d Fields says that he has developed an instinctual feel for when a new song is working, and when it lacks that certain something. \u201cWhen I hear a good song, it makes my foot pat,\u201d he explains. \u201cWhen it starts patting, I have no control of that. I roll on natural inclinations.\u201d He says that he often doesn\u2019t know what it is about a given song that sets his foot in motion. But when it happens, he is certain of one thing. \u201cThat song is good,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

And with that groove established, Fields starts coming up with lyrics. \u201cI don\u2019t try to write,\u201d he admits. \u201cI just try to be a receptor when something good comes. It\u2019s an organic, natural process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many seasoned performers who travel the world note that audiences in different countries react to their music in different ways. In his experience, Lee Fields has discovered quite the opposite. \u201cI can\u2019t tell any difference,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I come on, it\u2019s all about finding the moment when everybody is one, when we all feel the excitement and the love.\u201d When that happens, he says, \u201ceverybody starts singing together and jumping around.\u201d<\/p>\n

That experience is a secular parallel to the one found in some churches. And Fields says that when he\u2019s writing those songs, he\u2019s writing toward a higher entity. \u201cLike the Bible says, he that desires to be exalted must become a base and servant of all. And that makes sense to me,\u201d he says. That humility \u2013 coupled with Fields\u2019 admittedly powerful and outsize onstage persona \u2013 is a big part of what makes him a performer who connects with audiences.<\/p>\n

In between live dates, Fields is gearing up for his next album, to be cut in sessions with his longtime live band The Expressions. But right now his primary focus is where it usually is: on the live audience. \u201cAnd I\u2019m looking to have a very good time in Asheville,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NOTE: This feature references a live date that took place in April 2026. Lee Fields was in love with music from an early age. But by age 13, music wasn\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31140,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,69],"tags":[1301],"class_list":["post-31139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-soul","tag-lee-fields","cat-41-id","cat-69-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31139"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31141,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31139\/revisions\/31141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}