[1] Field of Kings [3] will be hosting their CD Release Party for their upcoming album Soirée this Saturday at Hard Rock Cafe [4] at 4th Street Live! The $5 cover charge is a steal! Admission includes happy hours at Hard Rock, Maker's Mark, Sully's, Tengo sed Cantina, S&SC, and Angels Rock Bar. The Winston Hours [5] and Toledo Bend [6] will be opening the show. When have you ever been able to get a happy hour to 6 different bars on 4th Street for only $5? 4th Street Live starts carding at 9pm, but if you are under 21 and are able to bring a legal guardian you can still attend if you arrive before that time. You can watch the promo video below.
Worn and Torn- CD Release Promo Video
Since the age of 13 Laren Rapp (guitar, backup vocals) and Tyler Stiller (guitar, lead vocals) have been composing music together. Over time and many endeavors the band expanded to include Anna Blanton (yes, that's me!) on violin, Justin Lee on drums, and Alex Sartin on bass guitar. Field of Kings' sound is based off of a folk rock/alternative style that includes a pinch of Kentucky country with a side of blues. Original material ranges from melodic fiddle/acoustic quartets to driving distortion making the the musical possibilities endless. The band looks forward to some other exciting opportunities following the CD release from performing at the Jubilo Music & Arts Festival [7] to their first summer tour.
Tyler talks about the concept behind Field of Kings, "The idea behind FoK was always to be as honest as possible. I feel that's the key to what we do. If we ever tried to fake it, it wouldn't seem right and our false colors would show through. I remember showing Laren the verse section of Dust on the Ground, all I had was the riff and a few lines of lyrics. He laid a few more lines down we just kinda ran with it. It sparked a whole new concept for us. I feel like we were searching for something, but we needed to just be true to what we were, not only as writers, but as people.
Having said that we needed to be honest with ourselves, we knew the folk and blues direction was the way to go. Not just because that was how our music was sounding or categorized, these two areas of music, to me, are the most up-front and genuine styles to write. You can hear the screw ups, scratching of the fingers, cracks in the vocals. All in all, it's true to the musician, as a player and a writer.
When Laren and I were discussing what we wanted this album to mean, we knew that it could be seen as a 'relationship' storyboard. Not that that's what we were trying to do, it just came out that way. We could have named it Ultimate Sorrow Souls or just something incredibly depressing, but we didn't want to look at our past like that. The song 'Worn & Torn' (watch the promo video above) shows our idea behind the title the best, it really defined the album. It's a celebration of being at the highest point you think you can possibly feel. Looking back at the hard times and the heartache just seems like a horrible nightmare. You live you learn, you become a better person after those encounters.
The biggest challenge completing the album was wrapping our minds around the idea of what 'releasing' an album meant. What does that mean? Well, I see it as a stepping stone. We did this, we wrote those songs, now how can we take it to the next level. We released a few minor albums back in high school and never really did anything with them. They were just done to say we did it I guess. I didn't want that to be the final thought after we finished Soirée. With this album we're doing all we can and above. It's not just going to be a trophy we throw up on our mantle and idolize until it collects the dust, we're pushing every avenue we have access to and creating more by doing so.
I'm not going to lie, the writing and recording of the songs was the easy part. It's all the chaotic mess of pushing, promoting, legal documents, and mounds of paper work that drove me crazy. It's like a sick addiction though, I love it at the same time."
Most people assume there was some deep thought process that went into selecting the band's name, but as Tyler explains that isn't how it was chosen at all, "The name. Ha, to be honest I saw a sign that said Kingsfield and just switched the words around. It wasn't until later that we really understood what that name meant to us. Field of Kings is that feeling of ultimate happiness, being on top of the world, a place where everybody is a King. Growing up, we would go out at night, gather around bonfires, drink, listen to music, and just enjoy the company of people we chose to be around. We were a field of kings. The name carries me into the idea for the album title, Soirée. The word 'soiree' literally means a nighttime gathering, generally accompanied by music. Once I saw that, it clicked. It had to be the title. It went along with the idea behind Field of Kings so well."
Field of Kings will be performing and being interviewed by WFPK [8] this Friday, April 13, at 3pm. Tune in!
WHAT: Field of Kings CD Release Party
WHEN: Saturday, April 14, 9:30pm Doors
WHERE: Hard Rock Cafe [9], 4th Street Live!
COST: $5
AGES: 21+ after 9pm
Photos and Videos: Courtesy of Field of Kings [3], photography by Daniel Frank, 750FOUR PRODUCTIONS [10]
