© 2026 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Field Report On World Cafe

Field Report's new album, Summertime Songs, was recorded before 2016's election, but frontman Chris Porterfield says he's still thought a lot between then and now about how his work fits into the current social and political atmosphere in the U.S. "In the lead-up to putting this record out, I struggled with whether the world needed another white man's record right now," he says.

You'll want to hear what brought him to that point. His session on World Cafe reflects on some lighter moments as well — like the time a planned Grateful Dead cover turned disastrous during a set at South by Southwest: "I had the lyrics all printed off. ... I had it, like in my bones. I was ready to go. Get on stage — dead air. It just left my mind." Hear more of those stories, and a live performance, at the audio link.

Copyright 2021 XPN. To see more, visit XPN.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.