Relaxing with a cold drink, good company and music is a nice way to end any day in canyon country, and Texas-based singer-songwriter Josh Field likes nothing better than to see smiles on the faces of people sharing a good time for an evening.
On Thursday, Sept. 7, at 7 p.m. Field will make his first stop on a coast-to-coast tour promoting his new solo album, “Reasons For Change,” at The Blu Pig’s Blu Bar, 811 S. Main St.
Earlier this year, he and his band, Brother Nothing, stopped in Moab for an evening and impressed Blu Pig manager Penny Tanner.
“He has a very sexy, soulful voice,” she said. “I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it right now.”
Influenced by the storytelling country singers he grew up with, Field says he’s more poet than songwriter. Listening to Steve Earle and Guy Clark as a kid inspired him to learn to play the guitar himself at age 20.
“Those guys were storytellers, they told stories through their songs and their music,” he said. “They make you feel like you’re sitting in their living room. That’s what I aspire to be, and to bring that experience to the audience.”
In YouTube videos of Field playing live with his band, he flashes the grin of a Southern gentleman to the audience and avers that every word they’re about to hear is true – “until I start singing.”
His new album is good road-trip material, with a variety of ballads, folk and something soulful that can’t quite slow down enough to be called blues. His gravelly delivery makes even the most downtrodden, introspective lyrics feel like stories being resolved in the telling.
“I’ve been called ‘Tom Waits with a head cold,’” he jokes.
Field is looking forward to being back in Moab.
“We had a blast last time,” he said.
“I always try to learn about the town and culture and not be like, I’m from Texas!” he said. “When I came to Moab last time, everywhere I went, people were friendly and answered my questions.”
He hopes to get out and see more of the sights this go-around, he said, with his wife and son on tour with him. In March, he met up with a local who took the band on a hike off the beaten path.
He didn’t get the man’s name, but with the same optimism that imbues his music, Field said, “Perhaps our paths shall cross again.”
The first time Field performed at The Blu Bar happened to be a slow night, and Tanner had time to sit and take it in.
“It was that right sound for the experience I like in the bar,” she said.
“There’s a difference between when people eat and leave, and eat and stay,” she said. “You know you’ve got the right music when the bar is filled with people staying and listening.”
The idea of live music at The Blu Bar is to make sure there’s a music-filled wind-down experience available for anyone who seeks it, 12 months a year, Tanner said. She’s especially impressed by the local talent, who bring their own following and have really created a flow for the ambience at the bar.
“Scott (Ibex) comes in and starts at a slower pace, and then at nine or so the whole mood changes to – OK, we want to have fun now,” she said.
Field brought a similar energy with his first performance, and she’s looking forward to seeing how the crowd receives him in the later hours.
“He’s got a charm to him,” she said. “He’s a very entertaining Southern gentleman.”
Texas-based singer-songwriter to groove at The Blu Pig on Sept. 7
“There’s a difference between when people eat and leave, and eat and stay … You know you’ve got the right music when the bar is filled with people staying and listening.”
When: Thursday, Sept. 7, at 7 p.m.
Where: The Blu Pig, 811 S. Main St.
Cost: Free; 21 and over
Information: 435-259-3333
