Milwaukee-based Chris Porterfield heads up the six-person Americana group whose moody, atmospheric style has been called “countrypolitan.” Story by Jeff Spry
Before the ‘90’s melodic rockers Counting Crows hits the stage at the Les Schwab Amphitheater next week for their outlaw roadshow, a blast of alt-folk fun will kick off the show via the rising Wisconsin band, Field Report.
Milwaukee-based Chris Porterfield heads up the six-person Americana group whose moody, atmospheric style has been called “countrypolitan.” Their new self-titled record comes out in September on Partisan Records.
“Opening up for Counting Crows is a great treat,” he said. “We got added onto a showcase at Austin’s SXSW festival back in March that Crows singer Adam Duritz was curator of. He loved our sound and was very gracious.”
“We got to play with them over the 4th of July at a concert in Iowa for the first time. It’s incredibly humbling. I grew up with them and it’s great to see a band with such a wide body of work still searching for new music and challenging themselves.”
Porterfield was raised listening to the iconic tunes of Neil Young, Paul Simon and America Music Club dating back to the ‘90s. He loves people and artists who are restless and always discovering the next honest thing, whatever path their creative and moral compass sends them down.
The upcoming record is a great tradition of taking old things and re-appropriating them for different times.
“Essentially we’re a folk band done in a more sophisticated style using more primal vibes,” he explained. “Ultimately we simply want to convey a mood. The stories for this band come first and the music supports those stories. It’s confessional songwriting I suppose, not just a guy with an acoustic guitar and his heart on his sleeve. That’s not us.”
Porterfield says he and the band are totally primed for Central Oregon.
“It’s a beautiful part of the country and everybody’s been talking about Bend and we can’t wait to get there,” he said. “We’re just Midwestern kids and there’s a certain romance to the Pacific Northwest we want to experience.”
Field Report opens for Counting Crows with We Are Augustines and Kasey Anderson and the Honkies on Tuesday, August 7 at 6pmat the Les Schwab Amphitheater. For tickets go to stubhub.com or bendconcerts.com.