William Elliott Whitmore is as authentic as an artist can get. He sings about what he knows and that is the basis for his fifth album Field Songs. Whitmore is a farmer from Iowa and he plays music representative of that fact. His music is stripped down to bare elements, often just vocals and either acoustic guitar or banjo.

Whitmore is following what is sure to be his masterpiece in Animals In The Dark, an album that dealt with issues outside of the farm and could even be called somewhat of a protest album. He returns to worrying about the crops and crickets on Field Songs as he had done on his first three releases.

The track “Field Song” appropriately acts as a microcosm for the album with its simple premise of just plain getting your hands dirty over acoustic strums. The most spirited number follows in “Don’t Need It” which oozes of pride and stubbornness. The songs focuses on the tasks at hand instead of worrying about consequences of getting the work done like the mosquitoes bites and getting sunburned.

While birds open the album as an intro, crickets and bullfrogs close it after “We’ll Carry On” concludes. The docile banjo tones set the background as Whitmore simply observes how he carries on on the farm. The album as a full piece doesn’t act as if it wants to change anything. It is simply an audio documentary of Whitmore’s life in the field.

Key Tracks: “Field Song” “Don’t Need It” “We’ll Carry On”