If you haven’t been listening to Milwaukee’s Field Report by now, here’s your chance to make it up with no hard feelings from me (but do it quick). There are only a handful of musicians and bands that I nebulously define as having “that Folkadelphia sound,” meaning that our radio show was created to support and share music exactly like this, like Field Report is making. These “Folkadelphia sounding” bands bridge the gaps not only between various folk music traditions, past and present, but also between other genres, technologies, and artistic disciplines. The end result is an inventive amalagamation of ideas that push at the boundaries of what we think of as being a songwriter and being a folk musician.

I first met Christopher Porterfield, Field Report’s singer and writer, about two years ago when his previous musical outfit, Conrad Plymouth, was visiting Philadelphia. Even in their stripped down band configuration and playing a different repertoire of songs, it was apparent that Porterfield was on a path to becoming a singular songwriter. In Field Report’s debut eponymous album, intricate and striking narratives, full of rich characterization, literary allusions, and philosophical musings are balanced by a fairly hook-laden approach to keep the listeners’ attention without getting too heavy-handed. Painted over with a nostalgic brush, Porterfield’s singing and the band’s music hit all of the right emotional points- seething loneliness, uncertain introspection, all which often builds to an impassioned head. Listening to the band, you get the sense that you’re living through Porterfield and his characters’ memories, faded at the edges by the passage of time, imbued with imagination’s coloring. Porterfield tells the stories as he remembers them, not how they really happened.

Since our session with Porterfield’s previous band, we have seen the advent of Field Report, the release of their debut record, and a handful of stops in the city for live shows (including last year’s XPoNential Music Festival). Here for our latest Folkadelphia Session, we welcomed Field Report, who were playing as a trio (with Ben Lester on steel guitar, Shane Leonard on drums, banjo, and vocals, and Porterfield) to the XPN Performance Studio before their concert on March 29th at the Tin Angel with Sara Watkins (who will be featured as our next week’s Folkadelphia Session). The session consists of two tracks from the band’s debut and two new tracks – a taste of what’s to come from them.

Last night, Field Report and Stornoway played at Kung Fu Necktie. Our photographer Chris Sikich was on site to capture the vibes. Check out Chris’s site here

Oxfordian Oxonian folk / pop group Stornoway headline Kung Fu Necktie tonight.  Following up their 2010 debut Beachcomber’s Windowsill, the academically-minded quartet (led by an ornithologist) released Tales from Terra Firma earlier this month.  Field Report continue to tour in support of last year’s self-titled debut.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 21+ show can be found here.  Watch Stornoway’s video for “Knock Me On the Head” below.

Several local musicians come together at The Blockley tonight for a concert benefiting Lentil Fest.  Tommy Conwell, Pete Donnelly, Ben Arnold and Travel Lanes will perform sets in support of Lentil the French bulldog, who was born with a cleft palate.  All proceeds will be donated to a variety of charities including the French Bulldog Rescue Network and the Children’s Craniofacial Association.  Tickets and information can be found here.  Below, watch Pete Donnelly’s video for “Can’t Talk At All.”

West Philadelphia Orchestra brings their monthly Balkan dance party back to Underground Arts tonight.  As a collective of Philadelphia musicians, WPO blends traditional Eastern European influences withe modern jazz and classical sensibilities.  Tickets and more information for tonight’s 21+ show with Johnny Showcase and the Lefty Lucy Cabaret can be found here or on the Facebook event page here.  Watch West Philadelphia Orchestra perform “Burkan Cocek” below.

Field Report stopped by Dollhouse Studios in Savannah, Georgia recently while at the Savannah Stopover Music Festival.   The Wisconsin folk group recorded alternate versions of album favorites “I Am Not Waiting Anymore” and “Fergus Falls” in addition to previewing a new song called “40/40.”  Field Report will open for Stornoway at Kung Fu Necktie this Thursday, May 2nd.  Tickets and information for the 21+ can be found here.  Stream “40/40″ below and listen to the full session here.

Wisconsin’s Field Report have been added as support to Stornoway‘s Kung Fu Necktie show, bringing the folk project of Chris Porterfield back to Philadelphia in support of their 2012 debut album.  Tickets and information for the 21+ show on Thursday, May 2nd are available here.  Listen back to Field Report’s appearance on World Cafe here and watch their Out Of Town Films video for “Fergus Falls” below, recorded during last year’s XPoNential Music Festival.

Murchant – AnnaChristie Sadler from Luciana Botelho on Vimeo.

Les Professionnels bring their sonic space journey to terra firma tonight for Indian Summer: An Acid Western Experience at MilkBoy.   With accompanying visuals by Brooks Bell, Indian Summer is “a psychedelic journey through time and space exploring the inner psyche through sound and vision.”  The recent Philly Local Show guest hosts have worked with Passion Pit, Philly rapper Gliss and had some big names (Lushlife, Eliot Lipp) remix tracks for last year’s Move! EP.  Tonight’s opening set will be performed by Philly electronic artist Telequanta.  Tickets and information for the 21+ show can be found here.  Below, stream and download the original mix of “Move.”

Local bands Lockets and Turning Violet Violet team up for a house show at Safety Meeting in West Philly tonight.  Lockets pairs acoustic / pop singer-songwriter Dani Mari with former punk rocker Todd Mendelsohn in a collaboration that stretches outside the boundaries of both performers’ previous work.  The trance-y, drifting compositions of their 2012 debut Camera Shy LP are gauzy and elusive, with just enough synth structure to keep from floating apart.  Chamber pop / rock outfit Turning Violet Violet released their debut full-length Double Cure last year as well.  More information for tonight’s house show at 51st and Willows Ave with Castellan can be found here.  Below, watch Lockets’ video for “Bitter Teeth.”

Singer-songwriter / fiddler Sara Watkins plays the New Hope Winery tonight with Field Report.  Previously a member of bluegrass trio Nickel Creek along with her brother Sean and mandolin player Chris Thile, Watkins has since launched a solo career that presented her self-titled debut in 2009 and the critically acclaimed follow-up Sun Mindnight Sun in 2012.  Tour mates and XPO Fest alums Field Report also released a stunning self-titled record last year, with their single “I Am Not Waiting Anymore” jsut breaking into XPN’s Year in Review list.  Tickets and information for the show in New Hope can be found here.  Below, watch Watkins’s video for “When It Pleases You.”

Local rapper Chill Moody headlines Hard Rock Cafe for Welcome to Talent Island tonight.  Hosted by Hank McCoy and Ashley Coleman, the event will showcase the roster of Talent Island with performances by Beano, Suzann Christine, Teff and Tye James.  Moody, still riding high from the release of his recent RFM LP and a nod from MTVU, shared a brand new video for the title track to RFM earlier this week in which he takes on the roles of both the wise man and the bartender.  Tickets and information for tonight’s 18+ show can be found here.  Watch the video for “RFM” below.

XPN Welcomes one of our favorite new bands, Field Report, to World Cafe Live tonight. Former DeYarmond Edison member Chris Porterfield’s new band released their self-titled debut album in September to widespread acclaim. WXPN’s own Bruce Warren said “The sound of Field Report’s debut is acoustic, warm and gorgeous; the lyrics capture the sadness, determination and resolve of life’s richest emotions.” Tickets for the all ages 8 o’clock show can be found here, and below watch Out of Town Films‘ video of the band performing their first single from Field Report, “Fergus Falls,” in a restroom at XPoFest last summer.

Canadian singer-songwriter Al Spx, known better by her performance name Cold Specks, is playing tonight at First Unitarian. Her goth-inspired soul music can be felt through the entirety of her debut, I Predict A Graceful Expulsion, which was released last May. The all ages show begins at 8; go here for ticket information. Watch Cold Specks’ chilling new video for “Hector” below.

Also, XPN Welcomes the following concerts tonight:
Lyle Lovett at McCarter Theater
Hezekiah Jones at Steel City
Lost In The Trees at Capitol Theater
Robert Randolph and the Family Band at Keswick Theater
Tickets and information for those shows can be found on our calendar here. 

The Key: Have you been surprised by the success of the album so far?

Chris Porterfield: I really have. When we made this thing, we didn’t really know what to expect with it and where it was going to go or who we were talking to, or who was going to be listening to it. It’s just been so positive to see people reacting to it and it’s really exciting.

TK: Did you ever think this kind of success would be a possibility after you settled down and got married?

CP: Haha, no, I wouldn’t have believed you if you had told me – if you had told me a year ago at this time – that this album was created and we were travelling on tour.  I never thought I would be giving this a go.

TK: What’s it like working with this group of people? How does the writing process work?

CP: We started pretty low-key just in Milwaukee and we recorded the whole album in Eau Claire. I mean, it just started really organically and it’s good to have this group that’s ready to get behind these songs and build around that, just trusting each other. Our writing process starts with the words; I play with words or phrases that I’ve been throwing around and just try to make sense of what fits together, and when I have a draft or two ready I bring it to the guys and we deconstruct and rebuild from that point. We really try to reckon with the piece and see what feels right for it; it needs to be justified before we’re done with it.

TK: Your background in DeYarmond Edison is an inevitable point of recognition for fans—is that association something you hope to eventually move away from?

CP: I totally understand the desire for a reference point, and Justin is a good friend of mine. People’s time is valuable and there’s lots of music out there, and people are interested in music he’s making so if that helps them understand who we are, I appreciate it. He’s built a career doing what he thinks is the right thing for him all the time without compromising and it’s an honor to be in company with someone like him. Eventually, though, it would be ideal if the music could stand on its own.

TK:  Did you continue making music immediately after the breakup of DeYarmond Edison or was it more something that grew from missing it?

CP:  It grew from absence of it. When DeYarmond Edison broke up I really thought that was the end of a future in music, I didn’t want to make music anymore. I was an English major in college, and then I decided to be a grownup and become more pragmatic so I switched to Journalism to get a job at a newspaper or some other writing gig. But it’s a taxing time for journalism, too, and I realized I really missed creative writing and making music in a band, so this just kind of started.

TK: Do you think that watching the success of Justin and Megafaun shape your desire to continue making music?

CP: Yeah, definitely. I mean, a lot of my friends have gone on to be professional musicians, so I’ve learned a lot from watching their development without having to go through it myself, and I think from that we’ve avoided a lot of the “growing pains” of a young band. I don’t take credit for everything, though- we’ve got a really great team that has opened up a lot of awesome opportunities.

TK: Would you like to take Field Report or any other project back to Eau Claire?

CP: I’d love to get back there—Eau Claire is a very special place for me.  I spent six years—six very important years—there, and almost half of us have relationships and friendships there. It’s a five hour drive [from Milwaukee] so we don’t get out there as often as we’d like, but it’s really cool to make those two circles meet and make those worlds a lot smaller. There’s something going on in Wisconsin right now and it’s really exciting to be a part of it.

TK: What’s it like to see people reacting to your music beyond that local scope?

CP: There are a handful of moments where people are reacting on a large scale. It’s awesome to see all these people come together and share some kind of larger experience. It’s really cool when a fan, or maybe someone who’s just hearing our music for the first time that night, picks up on a line and brings it in a way I hadn’t thought about, and then it ends up shaping my relationship with the song differently.  It’s really gratifying to know that the work we put in is growing and moving—it’s really humbling, too. After producing this music for others and establishing our own relationships with it, we owe it to the people who grow attached to it to be responsible to the music.

TK: Which musicians would you be interested in collaborating with in the future?

CP: We’re still so young as a band and understanding how this works, and there’s always so much to learn from so many people. We had such a great time on the Aimee Mann tour, Aimee and I actually performed on a duet in some of the shows. I’d love to do something with her. Mark Eitzel [of American Music Club] would be awesome to work with, I feel like a large part of our music is a reaction to his art being grafted into my bones. Nick [Berg], Travis [Whitty] and I actually just worked with a Milwaukee singer, Calvin Hofer, on his new Old Earth album, which came out this week. I always feel like you should collaborate when given the chance unless there’s a reason not to—there’s usually always something to learn from others.

Field Report is Chris Porterfield, Jeff Mitchell, Travis Whitty, Nick Berg, Damian Strigens and Ben Lester. You can stream their self-titled debut album here; tickets for their all-ages show at World Cafe Live tomorrow night are available here.

Field Report entranced the audience at this year’s XPoNential Music Festival and recently released their self-titled debut full-length.  Frontman Christopher Porterfield visited Folkadelphia in early 2011 when he was performing under the moniker Conrad Plymouth, and while in the studio Porterfield, along with keybordist Nick Berg and Strand of Oaks’ Tim Showalter, recorded a beautiful version of “Fergus Falls.”  Download the track here and stream it below.

This week, The Key’s Unlocked series highlighted the 1980s rock band Informed Sources.  They have a new album called Fun Under the Sun and you can download “Imagined Fears” for free below.

• Imagined Fearsby Informed Sources from Fun Under the SunDownload

Tuesday’s My Morning Download featured country rocker Dwight Yoakam.  The musician and actor is back with a new album called 3 Pears, his first new album in seven years.  You can download and stream “Long Way to Go” below.

• Long Way To Goby Dwight Yoakam from 3 PearsDownload

York, P.A. favorites Kingsfoil stopped by the XPN studios on Monday for a live broadcast on The Leicht Lunch with Helen Leicht.  The quartet, complete with recent addition Frankie Muniz on drums, played a couple of tracks off of their latest album A Beating Heart is a Bleeding Heart.  You can download the song “American Veins” below.  

• American Veinsby Kingsfoil, recorded Live on the Leicht Lunch, September 24, 2012Download

Over at Underground Arts, blues-inspired folkie William Elliott Whitmore performs an early set with Santa Fe songwriter Samantha Crain opening. The 21+ show begins at 7:30 p.m., admission is $15, tickets and information are available here. Below, watch Whitmore performing “Hell or High Water” for KEXP.

If you missed Field Report when they played XPoNential Music Festival this summer – and we have a feeling a lot of you did – you’ve got two chances to see them this weekend, beginning tonight at World Cafe Live at the Queen in Wilmington. They open for Melissa Ferrick, tickets to the all-ages show are $30 and available here. Below, watch Field Report performing “Fergus Falls” in the restroom at XPoNential, filmed by Out of Town Films.

Out Of Town Films Presents: Field Report “Fergus Falls” from Out Of Town Films on Vimeo.

WXPN welcomes local psych-popsters Cheers Elephant to the Steel City Coffeehouse in Phoenxiville tonight; they’re also performing their first show of the weekend, and co-headline along with up-and-coming rock act Modern Inventors. Admission to the all-ages show is $12, tickets and information are available here. Below, listen to the title track from Cheers Elephant’s latest record, Like Wind Blows Fire.

Touring in support of her latest record, The Gun in Your Hand, Jersey native Danielia Cotton visits The Sellersville Theater tonight for an XPN Welcomes show. The all-ages show begins at 8 p.m., admission is $24, tickets and information are available here. Below, listen to “Save Me,” the opening track on her new record.

Field Report’s debut is filled with gorgeous songs, anchored by Porterfield’s haunting, contemplative and melancholic vocals and musical textures that bridge the gap between songwriters like Jackson Browne, Marc Eitzel and John Prine with the subtle atmospheric glean of bands like Talk Talk and songs like Peter Gabriel’s “Mercy Street.” The sound of Field Report’s debut is acoustic, warm and gorgeous; the lyrics capture the sadness, determination and resolve of life’s richest emotions. In many ways Field Report reminds me of Jackson Browne’s classic Late For The Sky; in the songs there is constant emotional struggle between reality and idealism, between youthfulness and maturity; the playing is absolutely magnificent and like Browne, as a storyteller, Porterfield creates a marvelous sense of place that you walk into and never want to leave. There’s a powerful musical brilliance to be heard and felt on Field Report’s debut.

Listen to the album in its entirety below. You’ve got two chances to see them in our area; on Friday, September 14th at World Cafe Live at the Queen in Wilmington, and on Saturday, September 15th at Sellersville Theatre. Both shows they open for Melissa Ferrick. Go here for information and tickets.

Out Of Town Films Presents: Field Report “Fergus Falls” from Out Of Town Films on Vimeo.

Field Report “Fergus Falls”

Dave, Field Reports manager, was already eyeing up the large restroom located some hundred feet from the concession stand. I mentioned we’ve done a shoot in a bathroom before with Jason from The Homophones, but, that was really only confined to a particular stall. So, we made our way towards the bathroom, instruments in hand, and walked into the gym-smelling facilities of the men’s restroom. They performed a song called “Fergus Falls,” and here is what came of that performance. Enjoy.

Bonus trivia: Field Report used to go by the name Conrad Plymouth, and in 2011 they recorded a studio session for XPN2′s Folkadelphia – including the song you hear above – with Tim Showalter from Strand of Oaks guesting on guitar. You can download that entire session here. Check back to The Key tomorrow for continued video coverage from XPo Fest!