By Steffon Olsen
Dark horse, independent singer-songwriter Harry Fields has become known as the “Outlaw Angel” in Las Vegas over the past 7-years, partly, because he’s helped so many people who have lost children at a young age, as he lost his daughter at a young age to a rare disease. As a singer-songwriter and live performer, his epic live performances on Fremont Street, the Strip, and throughout Vegas have brought him wide-spread acclaim in both the local and national consciousness.
Scorpius recently had the rare privilege of enjoying an unforgettable private concert in Harry’s own home in Las Vegas, wherein Harry performed some of his biggest hits as Derek Kennedy, his good friend/ music collaborator, complimented each of Harry’s songs with his signature ornaments and embellishments. After the concert, I had the chance to speak with the mythical independent icon and his friend in a rare interview.
Scorpius: Harry, what are some of the most impacting experiences, either sad or happy, from your earliest childhood, that have influenced your songwriting?
Fields: Grow’n up in Cedar Rapids Iowa, my dad was a great entertainer, he used to always play out at all of the bars. We lived in the hood and a lot of Motown players came through there, it was pretty exciting. I came from a big family and everyone played instruments. My cousins were pretty wild, they’d always get drunk and put a piano on a trailer and pull it down first avenue while one of em entertained the town.
We were very poor and my dad left us when I was really young. My town, Cedar Rapids, was a big music town, a lot always happening there. On Friday nights when my stepdad would take my mom out dancin, I’d fire up the color tv with the stereo full blast and listen to artists like Ray Price and Ferlin Husky and learned to sing all of their songs, an that’s when I realized that I wanted to be a singer.
Scorpius: Apparently, your grandmother was a well-known, local bartender and ran into a lot of Motown stars who came through town?
Fields: Yeah, she was a bartender in a famous bar. When Nat King Cole would come through town, he would jump on the piano and play for the crowd. My grandmother was 6’7, drank a fifth of whiskey a day, and could throw a full-grown man across the bar. Nat King Cole would smoke cigarettes and drink bourbon as he performed with a smile. One night, after he played a set, he approached my grandmother and asked, “Can I borrow five-dollars for a date and I’ll write you a check?” And so, she did and the check has stayed in the family ever since then.
Scorpius: When did you begin playing the guitar and writing songs and what was that era like in your life?
Fields: Well ya know, I always had that dream, and when I grew up over on the east side, on Oak Hill our house was surrounded by cemeteries. I’ve seen spirits, I’ve seen visions and I could see me on the stage ya know. When I was younger, I’d go down to the bar in the hood and a lot of famous people came through, ya know like Al Green and Gladys Knight. A lot of the upper Motown people had family there, so I’d go hangout there and shine shoes, so they’d let me go in the bar and set me on the bar and I’d be dancin and they’d say like, “This boy’s got rhythm!”
Then as I grew older, we moved to the other side of town and I’d practice playin and sing’n in front of the mirror by my closet as I honed my craft. Later on, I moved to Nashville and sold cars in a lot just outside of there. I’d always drive into town to see Johnny Lee and perform my songs. Over time, Johnny Lee and I became friends. I also had the chance to perform for a lot of the big names that would come through town, like Alabama. One time I was at a venue in Nashville and a guy walked up to me and said, grab your guitar and let’s go out in the hall. And after we traded licks for a while, I noticed that he sounded like Waylon Jennings, and I asked him, “Are you Waylon Jennings?” and he said, “no, I’m his brother Tommy.” And he kept complimenting me through that night as I performed my songs.
Another time, I was playin in a corner of a famous bar in Nashville, raisin money for St. Jude’s in honor of my daughter who died of a rare disease and Tracy Lawrence was sitting at one of the tables. He had his manager grab me and bring me to his table and he told me, “Harry, I want to be part of anything you do!”
Scorpius: Could you tell us a few of the songs that you’ve written, that have had the most meaning to you and why?
Fields: The most important song I’ve ever written, I wrote for my daughter, it’s called, “Fly Away.” She died very young of a rare disease and after she was buried, I cried over her grave every night throughout the following year. After some time passed, we had to have her moved to be buried next to my mother. When they were digging her casket up, it was rainin and once they brought her out the clouds rolled back, it stopped rainin, and the sun came out. Then when they relocated her to be next to my mother; on the day they buried her, it was raining again as they lowered the casket.
So that’s probably the most important and special song I’ve ever written. I was even gonna possibly have Tracy Lawrence record it.
Another one, the song that actually brought me here to Vegas is called, “Do It Again,” I’m a storyteller and have written a lot of songs but that’s another one that means a lot to me. It’s a powerful song and every time I perform it, the audiences’ feet get going and I have had so many fans tell me that they can’t get that song out of their heads. And I really keep’em moving when Derek and I perform together we really rock the crowd.
Scorpius: Derek Kennedy, what can you tell us about how you and Harry met and began performing together?
Kennedy: Well, we met at a party years ago in Nashville and then I didn’t see hide nor hair of him for a while after that. Then, sometime later here in Vegas, a girl I knew told me that she knew a solo artist who was looking for another guitar player to work with on a project, so we came to his house and Harry and I just started jamming together and before long we remembered that we had indeed met years earlier in Nashville. We’ve just been jammin and performing together in Las Vegas over the past three years.
Scorpius: Over the past three years of jammin together what can you tell us about the dynamics of your collaboration?
Kennedy: Harry and I have a pretty unique past; Harry basically writes the songs and I just try to interpret them and compliment them with my arrangements and guitar solos. We really have a lot of synergy that really add up to more than the sum total.
Scorpius: What can you tell us about what it’s been like raisin a little hell together?
Kennedy: Well, first of all, Harry takes his guitar with him everywhere, and when I say everywhere, I mean everywhere! Everyone in Vegas loves to hear him perform. I gotta tell you it’s always an exciting experience.
Scorpius: Harry, is there one more really popular song that you’ve written that is also a personal favorite?
Fields: The other really powerful song and a favorite among my fans is “Drink’n My Baby Back Home.” It originated when I was goin down to Texas a lot, and damn I love Texas.” I made a thousand bucks on Freemont Street one-night playn that song a few times in my set, everybody loves that song!” I love my fans and a big part of life is help’n other people and given’em their dreams back.
Scorpius: You were good friends with Stevie Ray Vaughan during the pinnacle of his career. What can you tell us about those times and do you feel that his style and spirit may have influenced your own songwriting and performance style?
Fields: Stevie Ray Vaughan was a very good friend of mine. We were in Austin, Texas and he was playin at Antone’s on sixth street, across the street from a venue I was play’n at, at that time. I met him originally through his brother, but I’d watch him perform years ago in my home town and he definitely, strongly influenced my playin. First time I’d seen him perform live, when I was younger, I said to myself, “That’s how I wanna be!” Over time I’ve felt him helping me. I’ve died 9 times and every time I couldn’t get into heaven, cause I already made a deal with the devil but finally I’ve turned around and made a better deal with God. So I’ve felt Stevie around still help’n me.
Scorpius: How did you decide to continue your music career in Vegas?
Fields: I’ve got influential friends in music and in other areas of life and had some good advice on it and I also knew that Vegas would become the entertainment capital of the world and it has.
Scorpius: What can you tell us about any upcoming projects?
Fields: Well, I’m gonna do songs as a tribute to Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash in the near future. I’m also gonna re-record and master my three top-songs I mentioned earlier for release in October of 2025. I’d also really like to find some kind of residency here in Las Vegas, in the near future.
