Lee Fields

Friday, 6/21 – 9:15pm on Blue Ridge Timberwrights Stage

Hailed by Rolling Stone for “his classic American soul sound,” Lee Fields is arguably the greatest pure soul singer alive today. In an age when the shelf life of an artist largely depends on posturing and trends, he has proven to be an unassailable force of nature. His prolific five-decades-plus career spans more than 20 albums and over 40 singles, a supreme, still-evolving body of work that continues to garner attention via samples by such heavyweight artists as J. Cole, Travis Scott, Rick Ross, and A$AP Rocky as well as outside-the-box collaborations like the worldwide dance club hit, “Jealousy,” with French DJ/ producer Martin Solveig. 

The North Carolina-born Fields arrived in New York City in 1967, inspired by James Brown’s legendary performance on The T.A.M.I. Show to make himself a soul star. The decades that followed saw Fields grow a hard-earned reputation as a true king of funk with a steady stream of albums and singles, including 1973 ’s stone classic, “Let’s Talk It Over.” Though missed opportunities and changing musical tastes over the years might have kept him from reaching the pinnacle of mainstream stardom, Fields never let up, keeping the soul flame alive with independent releases and non-stop touring on the southern blues circuit.  

In 1996, Fields recorded “Let a Man Do What He Wana Do” [sic] for Desco Records, a New York-based independent label co-run by producer/musician Gabriel Roth. The full-length Let’s Get a Groove On followed in 1998, cementing Fields as a torchbearer of the new funk revival, a Golden Age icon for a whole new generation of soul fans around the world. Fields continues to reign supreme on the modern funk and soul scene via a long series of new LPs and singles – including seven LPs joined by his explosive backing band, The Expressions – as well as countless live visits to every relevant venue and major festival on the planet, from Carnegie Hall, and L’Olympia to Coachella, Bonnaroo, Newport Folk, Roskilde, and many more, earning applause from such outlets as NPR for his “groove-filled performances with fiery energy and toe-tapping swagger.”