Richie Fields

RICHIE FIELDS:
Richie Fields is a true American success story: A two-letter high school athlete (football, starting QB and baseball, 3B); a graduate of Swarthmore College (Economics Major); a ballplayer who took a shot at the Majors, and a forward-thinking entrepreneur who launched a successful company. Now, Richie is an up-and-coming singer/songwriter with his first CD (MAN ENOUGH TO CRY), a well-received single/video, and a tour schedule that stretches along the Eastern Seaboard - and beyond.
“I’ve always been driven,” says Richie. “And I’ve always loved music. In January 2006, I decided to put all of my energies into writing and performing.” Fields’ focus is paying off and the word is spreading. His first single has been called “a solid winner” by reviewers at Music Row Magazine, and his earthy baritone is drawing fans to his energetic live shows. Richie’s as likely to rock you with an uptempo country song as seduce you with a powerful ballad; with just a few notes he’ll have you two-stepping, slow-swayin’ or crying in your beer. His music draws you in to the party and keeps you close ‘til the lights are low.
And it’s when the lights are low that you’ll see a glimmer of the “closet romantic” in Fields. An admirer of Brooks & Dunn, The Eagles, Keith Urban and Brad Paisley, he’s also touched by songs like “I Believe” (Diamond Rio) and movies like The Notebook. Richie’s first single, “Man Enough To Cry,” reflects this soulful side of his personality. “The idea for the song came after years of pondering the untimely death of my best friend, Roger Smith. He was killed by a drunk driver at the age of 25, and through the years, there have been so many moments when I would think, ‘Roger never got to do this’ or ‘I wish Roger could experience this.’” While Fields chose to write the song about a boy who lost his mother, the emotionally-charged lyrics and beautiful melody make a powerful statement that strikes a chord with country music fans.
Although he didn’t start writing songs until the late 90s, Richie started singing professionally in college. “My roommate was in a duo,” Fields says. “One day, his band mate caught me singing along to ‘Fire And Rain’ by James Taylor.” Richie was asked to join the band, and was soon playing college club dates. He quickly learned the nuances of harmonies and his vocal range allowed him to take on many of the high notes. “I didn’t start out singing lead,” says the Maryland native. “I started out finding the harmony lines, and that helps me to this day. Now, when I’m working up a song for our stage show, I know exactly what I want to pull out of that song.”
For Fields, knowing what he wants has always been the easy part, and on the whole, he’s made getting what he wants look pretty easy, too. In reality, though, his success is the by-product of hard work. “I was gifted with natural athletic ability and was a pretty good student,” he says. “But I became better, over time, by practicing more, and by hitting the books.” Richie credits his parents with instilling that strong work ethic in him at an early age. During high school, in addition to his athletic and scholastic endeavors, Fields also found time to edit the school newspaper - and work on the Ocean City Boardwalk, where he served up some of the area’s renowned French Fries. “Those were eight-hour shifts, so I had a lot going on,” he says with a laugh. “But I wanted to do it all, and I worked hard enough that I was able to do just that.”
The transition to college didn’t change Richie’s lifestyle that much; he was still busy multi-tasking. In addition to playing club dates, Fields became the starting third baseman for Swarthmore College, earning MVP honors in his final two seasons, and fulfilling a lifelong dream when he tried out for his beloved Baltimore Orioles. “I didn’t make the cut,” Richie says. “But I gave it my best shot. I had a great baseball career, and making it that far is something that I will never forget.”
Richie has come a long way from the playing fields of his youth in Salisbury and Ocean City (Maryland) and Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Now, Richie lives in rural Marriottsville, Maryland (west of Baltimore) on a few acres with a big family, where he also maintains the marketing company he founded in 1994. Remarried in 2002, Richie is the proud father of five (three boys, two girls) and two stepchildren; the son and daughter of his Denmark-born bride, Mette. “I’ve never been happier than I am right now. I’m in a good place,” says the entertainer. “I only wish the days were longer.”
In between performing and family commitments, Fields divides his time between workouts (“I’m still a fitness nut!”), songwriting, booking shows and answering emails directed to his MySpace page. “It’s so important to me to maintain those connections,” he says. “These are the people who are watching my video, coming to my shows and buying my music. I care what they think and I need to know what resonates with them.”
Fields obviously knows what appeals to fans of today’s country, and his CD is filled with songs from some of Music City’s finest tunesmiths, as well as two of his own compositions. The disc kicks off with the gripping, “I Remember That Lonely,” written by Karen Staley and Doug McDonald. Richie’s dynamic vocal performance provides the perfect counterpoint to a lyric that tells a friend, “I’ll be here for you, you can lean on me, ‘cause I remember that lonely.” Fields seeks to rekindle love in his own “In A Place Like This,” while the upbeat “When Did I Get Old” (Karen Staley/Steve Dukes) is a lighthearted, in-your-face aging process reality check. “The Devil In The Mirror” (Larry Williams, Kim Williams, Wayd Battle) is a Southern Rock-tinged tale of a man fighting to stay in control, while battling the demons within.
Recorded in Nashville and produced by Jim Purdy, MAN ENOUGH TO CRY drew some renowned pickers to the studio, including Johnny Hiland (Toby Keith, Randy Travis) on lead guitar; Bryan White (the artist) on drums; guitarist Larry Hanson (Alabama, Gretchen Wilson); Dino Pastin (Alabama, Barbara Mandrell) keyboards and harmonica, and Chris Carmichael on fiddle (David Ball, Martina McBride).
September 2008
Visit me on Facebook ~ click here
CLICK HERE to read Richie Fields' interview with Gone County Magazine
CLICK HERE to read Richie Fields' CD review in Gone Country Magazine
*DEBUT CD "MAN ENOUGH TO CRY" NOW AVAILABLE HERE ON MYSPACE AND ON MY WEBSITE WWW.RICHIEFIELDS.COM USING PAYPAL*
Click Here To Purchase My New CD
Plain MySpace Layouts by Iron Spider