Active since 2013, Paisley Fields is the project of singer, songwriter, and bandleader James Wilson, who splits his time between Brooklyn, New York and Nashville, Tennessee. He writes country music. His songs are tender and authentic, but also pretty quick with a joke. They’re mindful of tradition, but deeply informed by his singular background.
On June 5th Paisley Fields will release Electric Park Ballroom, his second full-length and his debut for Don Giovanni Records.
Raised in the Midwest, Wilson spent his teenage years playing piano at church, detasseling corn, and pulling shifts at Dollar Tree. He ultimately skipped town to become a world traveler, a proficient taiko drummer, and a Manhattan piano bar survivor who has co-written songs for RuPaul’s Drag Race (“Purse First” and “Feeling is Mutual”). Wilson is a touring member of the pioneering queer country outfit Lavender Country and can also read your tarot.The stories on Electric Park Ballroom are his, but the feelings they convey – love, loneliness, lust, and so on – are, hopefully, still universal.
Today Glide is excited to premiere the music video for “The Other Boys,” the album’s second single. In this country song about emerging queer identity, Wilson reflects on the cherished objects of his childhood. With a shuffling beat, soulful organ and rollicking banjo to make for a fine country-folk soundtrack, he lays out a vivid autobiographical tale about his experiences growing up and realizing he was not like “the other boys.” Accompanied by mostly black and white imagery of Wilson putting together his best cowboy outfit, the song is a poignant and heartfelt tale of coming to terms with who you are and embracing it.
Wilson describes the inspiration behind the song:
“When I was a kid I would stay over at my Grandma’s house on some weekends. We would watch the Golden Girls, eat ice cream, drink tea, and she would let me try on all her jewelry. One day I came to visit and she had a present for me that she said I could just keep at her house. It was my own pair of clip on earrings. My Grandma has always been my biggest supporter. When I came out to her she said ‘Oh I knew that a long time ago.’ I filmed this video with my husband while in quarantine in Brooklyn. He doesn’t work in the creative field at all, so it was really special for us to work together on this project. I’m so glad he was able to meet and get to know my Grandma before she passed away a few years ago. I like to think she’s looking down on us now, and if she could see this I know she’d be proud.”
WATCH:
Paisley Fields will release Electric Park Ballroom on June 5th via Don Giovanni Records. For more music and info visit thepaisleyfields.com.
Photo by Kenneth Bachor
