James Wilson, the singer/songwriter behind the queerpoke country band Paisley Fields, is pushing out a brand-new video, called “Girl Crush.”
The visuals depict Wilson as an invisible onlooker of a straight relationship in which he’s clearly smitten with his galpal’s boyfriend. He wants to “taste her lips” — because they’d taste like him and “drown in her perfume,” because maybe that would make the boyfriend want him, too.
It’s a calico twist on the ages-old love triangle you have to see:
“The original release in 2015 by Little Big Town caused a big controversy on country radio,” Wilson explains,” as many listeners saw the song as pushing the gay agenda. That resulted in the song being banned on many country stations. Paisley Fields takes the song a step further by actually queering it up. I sing it from the viewpoint of a gay man attracted to a man in a straight relationship.It’s a notion that echoes the sentiments that many LGBTQ people feel towards their straight counterparts. The video is also in effect a commentary on the way many men in the gay community idolize cis-gendered straight female pop stars.”
Paisley Fields has spent much of the summer on the road, where Wilson has seen the popularity of his band and music expand at each stop. And, he says with a wry smile, sometimes the crowd grows and equipment can disappear.
“In Oakland somebody broke into our van and stole all our merch and some gear,” he says with a sigh. Our replacement vehicle then broke down as we were leaving LA. Aside from those little hiccups, the tours have been very positive.”
One of the recent highlights was a gig at the Northside Rock N’ Roll Carnival in Cincinnati, says the artist.
“That was over 4th of July. Normally the festivals we play are Pride festivals or queer related, so it’s unusual to be invited to play a festival that isn’t either of those.”
Wilson was trepidatious, but agreed to give it a try. “I was nervous about how we would be received by what I assumed was a predominately straight crowd, he says. “I made the decision before we went on that I would just be myself regardless. If people didn’t like it, that was fine.
“We played the show, me as my usual gay self and won the crowd over to the point where we were called back for an encore. Afterwards, a mom came up with her 14 year stepson. They bought some merch and she came back and to tell us that he had come out to their family that week. She told me how much our performance meant a lot to him, and that was a really touching moment.”
Catch Paisley Fields live in August. They’re on stage at The Basement in Nashville August 6th, the Iowa State Fair August 14th and Cedar Valley Pride August 25th. They’ll be back in NYC during September and hitting the road again in October. Dates will be announced soon on their website; paisleyfields.com.
Last modified: July 28, 2018
