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Fiona Fields: Artist Review & Album Review
Recently I had the pleasure of seeing Fiona Fields perform acoustically near me as a part of the first NSW Meet n Greet night where artists & fans get together in an informal setting. [Review]
Living in Sydney, I am looking forward to being able to attend one of Fiona’s shows in the future. This may not happen until after the 2011 Tamworth Country Music Festival in January. During last year’s festival, Fiona was in the Top 20 of the Toyota Star Maker Awards. She has also been receiving regular airplay on the Country Music Channel here in Australia on Pay TV. I featured her song “I’m A Fan” as the opening track of episode 8 of Insomnia Radio: Australia.
To me at least, she has the approachable girl-next-door attitude that a person could spend many fun hours with enjoying her company. Like many modern country artists, Fiona could quite easily fit into the acoustic or rock genres based on how I heard her live & on her album respectively. I have not seen her (yet!) fronting her own show.
After fronting the country rock band 5 Hour Drive, Fiona took time out in 2009 to write some songs. These songs combined to form the 2010 album Good To Go. All 12 songs on the album are original with some songs co-written with others. Sometimes music is most effective when you can identify with the songs because you have been in the same sort of situation. To this end, Fiona has excelled in my opinion. Two of her songs that she performed at the showcase night really touched home for me.
The first song I identified with was called “I’m A Fan” where Fiona talks about being told by her father while she was growing up that she should be a country singer. As a teenager, this was the furtherest thing from her mind according to the song. Now as a more mature adult, she sings to her father saying that she should have listened to him earlier. In some respects, this somewhat echoes my story. As a child, the last thing I imagined myself doing would be writing a review of a country singer in 2010 for the world to read it! On her website, Fiona describes the song: “Probably the most traditional country song on the album, this song makes reference to some of the other popular genres of music today, “…metal, dance, rap [and] hip hop…” and though I love all kinds of music depending on what mood I’m in, this song is a proud declaration of my love for country music.”
The other song that I really identified with is called “Crack of Noon”. If I did not know any better, I could swear that Fiona wrote this song just for me. She sings about not being a morning person and being at her best later in the day. That’s me! “Do you hit the snooze button several times before you realise you’re running late for work? Do you need several coffees just to function before midday? Are you at your peak in the evening?! If so, you will relate to this song!”
Overall, the album is an excellent one. It is a personal album but it also has mass appeal. It even should appeal to people who do not usually give “country and/or western” (a running Channel Erk joke) a second listen. Country has moved on a lot for many people (me included) and a cowboy hat and a flannelette shirt are no longer mandatory requirements for a country artist. The songs are very simple to sing along with once you have heard them a few times. The tunes are catchy (tick), Fiona has a wonderful voice to listen to (tick) and there is some awesome guitar work (tick).
Fiona Fields’ music is played on Insomnia Radio: Australia & Channel Erk with direct permission from the artist.
