RECORDING: Supporting Queer People In Rural Communities

Paisley Fields

Active since 2013, Paisley Fields is a singer, songwriter, and bandleader splitting time between Brooklyn, New York and Nashville, Tennessee.

A touring member of the newly reformed Lavender Country, Paisley also played keyboard on their album “Blackberry Rose”. On his new album, "Limp Wrist", he draws inspiration from queer icon Andy Warhol and the myraid drag artists with whom he’s collaborated. His years of experience in Manhattan piano bars did not diminish his love for country music, and he released two albums that pay homage to the music of his youth.

“Limp Wrist” is an exploration of where rural queerness intersects religion. Paisley’s family were devout Catholics, and he served as the official church pianist in his parish throughout his teens, playing every Sunday.

The songs on the album are deeply personal, and often touch on what it was like to grow up closeted and queer in rural Iowa in the early 2000s. “Black Hawk County Line” tells the story of Paisley being outed by a former friend his senior year in high school, “Dial Up Lover” is about logging on to gay AOL chat rooms to find other queers in the area, and “Plastic Rosary” recounts the experience of being told he’ll never get into heaven while praying the rosary.

The most personal and biographical moment comes during “Iowa”, which recounts the tragic murder of Matthew Shepard, and the visceral fear he had to wrestle with since he was already aware of how different he was.