“Most of what is called the blues today has much more to do with the legacy of rock and roll than it does with the history of the blues. I'm not bitter about that. It just makes me appreciate the real blues I grew up with all the more.”

Kim Field: The Perfect Blues Gentleman

Internationally celebrated harmonica player, guitarist and singer Kim Field began his musical career in New York City, where he worked with the Sting Rays, a group managed by Grammy winner Phil Schaap. Returning to his hometown of Seattle, he teamed up with Isaac Scott, appearing on two albums with the legendary guitarist. Field spent several years fronting the Slamhound Hunters, whose performances and recordings were strongly received in both Europe and the United States. In recent years, Field has performed and recorded steadily with his celebrated Seattle-based band, the Mighty Titans of Tone. During his long career Field has appeared on bills with such rhythm and blues legends as Muddy Waters, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Cray, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Gregg Allman, James Cotton, Otis Rush, John Lee Hooker, Albert Collins, the Righteous Brothers, Walter Horton, and Big Mama Thornton. Field is also the author of Harmonicas, Harps and Heavy Breathing (Rowman and Littlefield) and co-author of The Blues Dream of Billy Boy Arnold (University of Chicago Press).

(Kim Field And The Perfect Gentlemen / Photo by Debra Penk)

Kim Field And The Perfect Gentlemen is an all-star roots-music group based in Portland, Oregon. Fronted by harmonica player and vocalist Kim Field, the band includes Whit Draper (guitar and vocals), Vyasa Dodson (guitar and vocals), Denny Bixby (bass and vocals), and Jimi Bott (drums). Individually, the members of the Perfect Gentlemen have been honored by the Cascade Blues Association with a total of nearly 30 Muddy Awards for their instrumental prowess and their recordings. On “Don’t Need But One” (2025) the debut 11-tracks album from Kim Field and the Perfect  Gentlemen, the band continues to establish themselves as one of the Pacific Northwest’s premier R n’ B acts. The release is a remarkable album that masterfully combines energetic and soulful songs with a bluesy vibe.

Interview by Michael Limnios                   Special Thanks: Kim Field & Frank Roszak

How has the Blues and Rock Counterculture influenced your views of the world and the journeys you’ve taken? What does the blues mean to you?

I'm a White male American. Music, especially the blues, has been my introduction to African-American culture, which is one of the richest cultures in the world. My life would have been much poorer without my exposure to Afro-American culture. The blues has had more influence on my worldview than anything else in my life. My love for the blues led me to delve into other American music influenced by the blues--including jazz, rock and roll, and country and western—and indigenous music from other cultures.

The blues is an African-American music. The rhythms, tonalities, and the focus on storytelling in the blues come from African music, but African Americans created the blues on western instruments like the piano and guitar. And, musically, the blues is a fascinating combination of both major and minor scales. Fundamentally, the blues gets its power, its popularity, and its profound beauty because it is focused on story telling. It's a vocal music, first and foremost.

How do you describe your sound, music philosophy and songbook? What's the balance in music between technique and soul?

I like being part of a great band. I like an ensemble sound, a band with a musical identity. I think it's important to play with musicians who are better than you. The Perfect Gentlemen are a real band. Everyone can really play, and everyone is committed to making the band sound good. We're all different, but the blues is our common ground, so "Don't Need But One" is essentially a blues album. We all have big ears and appreciate and can play many of the styles that fall under the blues umbrella, so on the album we serve up hardcore Chicago-sounding things, jazz-influenced instrumentals, soul ballads, horn-section shuffles, and so on.

You have to make your own contribution to the genre, so all but one of the tunes on "Don't Need But One" are originals written by either me or Vyasa Dodson.

A cool and interesting collection of original material delivered by a great band with a unique sound—that's how I would describe "Don't Need But One."

”The great thing about music is that the listeners get to enjoy what we musicians offer any way they want to. I guess I would love to think that something I played made a young trumpet player in the audience that night switch to the harmonica.” (Billy Boy Arnold and Kim Field / Photo by Dick Shurman)

Why do you think that Billy Boy Arnold music legacy continues to generate such a devoted following?

Billy Boy is a great artist who has always focused on original music performed in an original way. He is deeply steeped in the classic blues styles of people like his musical hero John Lee Williamson, but those influences taught him when he was just a boy that the key to a solid musical career was to tell your own story and to have your own sound. And Billy Boy's records sound fantastic! He's a national treasure, and a great human being. Working with Billy Boy on his memoir was one of the great experiences of my life.

Which meetings have been the most important experiences for you? What was the best advice anyone ever gave you?

I was a 17-year-old trumpet player when I saw James Cotton for the first time. He played "Blues In My Sleep," a slow-blues harp instrumental, and that was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. I bought my first harmonica the very next day.

I was profoundly lucky to meet Paul Oscher and Walter Horton when I was young and just starting out. I met Paul when I was nineteen, and he spent time with me and straightened me out on the fundamentals of blues harp playing. We were both living in New York City, and I was fortunate to see Paul play live quite a bit in those days, and he made a huge and lasting impression on me. Paul was a genius. A year or two later, I hitchhiked up to Boston two or three times to see Walter Horton, who played there often with Johnny Nicholas. He was just phenomenal.

I spent an afternoon in Nashville with DeFord Bailey, one of the greatest harmonica players who ever lived. He was the first big star on the Grand Ole Opry radio show, which is fascinating because he was a Black man. DeFord had an absolutely unique style that was extremely difficult technically but super soulful as well. I tracked him down during a cross-country trip and just knocked on his door. He was incredibly gracious. He played old-style harp, guitar, and banjo for me that day. It was like making a connection with a whole other musical era.

”I'm a White male American. Music, especially the blues, has been my introduction to African-American culture, which is one of the richest cultures in the world. My life would have been much poorer without my exposure to Afro-American culture. The blues has had more influence on my worldview than anything else in my life. ” (Kim Field with The Slamhound Hunters and Otis Rush, Seattle)

Are there any memories from gigs, jams, open acts and studio sessions which you’d like to share with us?

I opened for Walter Horton in Seattle once and he invited me onstage to play the last set with him. That was the greatest musical experience of my life. I played with Otis Rush for three straight nights in a Seattle club. He was an incredible guitar player, but standing next to him onstage when he sang was an unreal experience.

What do you miss most nowadays from the music of past? What are your hopes and fears for the future of?

I like to keep forward looking, but I do miss the real blues. I am old enough to have seen Muddy, the Wolf, Lightnin' Hopkins, John Lee Hooker, and artists like that live and in the flesh, and while they all had very different styles, they all focused on storytelling, they played incredible grooves and never rushed the tempo, and their music had a lot of space. That's an approach that is almost gone now. Most of what is called the blues today has much more to do with the legacy of rock and roll than it does with the history of the blues. I'm not bitter about that. It just makes me appreciate the real blues I grew up with all the more.

I worry about the blues' aging audience. I think I expected that there would be a Stevie Ray Vaughan every decade or so who would inject a new jolt of energy and passion into the genre, but it hasn't worked out that way.

What were the reasons that made the 1960s to be the center of Psychedelic, Folk, Rock, Blues researches and experiments?

The Sixties were special when it came to music because all the genres you just mentioned became popular despite the music industry and not because of it. Eventually the business caught up and took control, but in the Sixties there were not the commercial categories that came soon after. FM Radio was new, and those stations were driven by young hippie disc jockeys who would play all kinds of different stuff on the air. And when you went to concerts you would see a triple bill like Albert King, Janis Joplin, and the Charles Lloyd Sextet. Every radio show and every live concert, it seemed like, would expose you to music that was totally new to you, and some of it was stick. I saw Ike and Tina Turner because they opened for the Stones. Things seemed wide open musically in those days.

”The blues is an African-American music. The rhythms, tonalities, and the focus on storytelling in the blues come from African music, but African Americans created the blues on western instruments like the piano and guitar. And, musically, the blues is a fascinating combination of both major and minor scales. Fundamentally, the blues gets its power, its popularity, and its profound beauty because it is focused on story telling. It's a vocal music, first and foremost.”

(Kim Field / Photo by Debra Penk)

What is the impact of music on the socio-cultural implications? How do you want the music to affect people?

The great thing about music is that the listeners get to enjoy what we musicians offer any way they want to. I guess I would love to think that something I played made a young trumpet player in the audience that night switch to the harmonica.

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