Country roads/ stay at home/ in the place/ you belong/ Windsor Terrace!
A country musician from Windsor Terrace has taken his act from the road to the Web. The frontman of the queer cowboy act Paisley Fields says that playing to the camera is a great way to reach out, but it’s not the same as a real show.
“It’s weird playing and not having that audience,” said Paisley, the band’s singer and pianist. “Instead of applause, you’re getting heart emojis.”
Paisley Fields had just started a nationwide tour supporting its catchy new honky-tonk single “Ride Me, Cowboy,” when the coronavirus pandemic struck. The band’s gig at the South by Southwest festival was canceled, and when other venues along the way began to shutter, the band called off the tour and headed back to Brooklyn, said Paisley.
“Things started getting worse and worse. We did just three shows of a three week tour,” he said. “I just felt it was becoming an unsafe situation.”
Last Friday, instead of performing on stage, Paisley set up a camera in his apartment and played for an hour, streaming the show through Facebook. He he plans to continue playing the online hoedowns, each Friday at 6:30 pm.
“I’m hoping I can keep building something,” he said .”Friday feels like a good time — people can feel like they’re going out.”
Paisley said that he hopes to make up some of the lost revenue from his canceled gigs by selling online tickets, albums, and merchandise from his bandcamp site, but that is not his primary focus.
“I set up a ticket link, so you can buy a ticket if you want to,” Paisley said. “You don’t have to — I know people are out of work, and I want people to come by.”
Each weekly show will have a different theme. The concert on March 27 will be a sing-along show, with Paisley performing popular cover tunes along with his own work.
“With a sing-along … maybe you can’t be together, but you’re kind of connected,” he said.
And he makes sure that each concert ends before 8 pm, he said, so his audience can still catch “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
See Paisley Fields on Facebook (www.facebook.com/thepaisleyfields). March 27 at 6:30 pm. $5 suggested donation.
