Field Report Shares New Single; Announces Album and Tour Dates

FIELD REPORT, the Wisconsin-based quartet founded and fronted by Chris Porterfield, have announced their new album, SUMMERTIME SONGS, to be released on March 23rd on Verve Forecast, part of Verve Label Group. Verve Label Group is home to the newly revitalized Verve Forecast imprint, whose rich catalogue includes artists including Richie Havens, Laura Nyro, Captain Beefheart, and Tim Hardin. A national tour will follow the release of Summertime Songs. In anticipation of the new album, the band premiered the first single, "Never Look Back," with Stereogum. "Never Look Back" is now available everywhere, as both a single and an instant download when pre-ordering SUMMERTIME SONGS.

Born in Minnesota, Porterfield moved to Eau Claire, WI, where he was a member of the folk-rock group DeYarmond Edison with Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Phil Cook, Brad Cook, and Joe Westerlund. When the band decided to relocate to North Carolina 2006, Porterfield opted to stay in Wisconsin. After spending the next few years writing and refining his own songs, Field Report was born. Opening slots for artists such as Counting Crows, Emmylou Harris, Jeff Tweedy and Aimee Mann soon followed. The self-titled debut album was released in 2012, followed by 2014's critically acclaimed MARIGOLDEN.

Field Report's sound centers around the narrative songs of Porterfield (the band name is actually an anagram of his last name) that, at their best, bring to mind the writing on albums like Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks, Bruce Springteen's Nebraska and Paul Simon's Hearts and Bones in their hushed and passionate detail. Barry Clark (bass), Devin Drobka (drums) and Thomas Wincek (founding member of Volcano Choir, keys) round out the lineup, bringing their own unique styles and influences to create a sound that Paste called "dynamic and earnest, familial and familiar."

SUMMERTIME SONGS is a deeply personal album, showcasing Porterfield's ability to "cut down complex and heartbreaking situations with deft and graceful writing." (Consequence of Sound) Every song was written while Porterfield was anxious about the arrival of he and his wife's first child, but it's easy to multi-purpose some of those anxious moments for the white-knuckler that the country's been experiencing for over a year now. He plies us with songs about marital strife and letting that someone slip away (or watching them voluntarily pack up everything they have and get the hell out), but they're also vehicles for a dialogue about the fragility of America and many of the ideals that it has supposedly stood or fought for for so long.

On February 17th, Porterfield will reunite with his former bandmate, Justin Vernon, when Field Report opens for "BON IVER: FOR EMMA, TEN YEAR" at BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI. Field Report will kick off their own headlining tour on March 27th, at Schubas in Chicago.

Listen to "Never Look Back" / preorder Summertime Songs HERE

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