Primer: Little Wings

Formed: During the late '90s in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Members: Kyle Field, sometimes with friends, sometimes by his lonesome.

Latest releases: 2007's Soft Pow'r and 2008's By the Beach, recorded with Lee Baggett as Be Gulls.

Sounds like: Bonnie "Prince" Billy if he tried to remake the country-rock songs of the Grateful Dead and spent his days surfing instead of obsessing about death.

For fans of: Smog, Devendra Banhart, the Microphones.

Why you care: Few artists contributed as much to the Northwest music scene the past decade as Kyle Field. Though he's quick to change styles, Field's footprints (and beard) are all over the place, from his work with Jason Lytle of Granddaddy, M. Ward in Rodriguez, and Phil Elverum in the Microphones to his own records as Little Wings and eccentric drawings. In the early aughts, Field released the "Wonder Trilogy" on K Records and offshoot Knw-Yr-Own Records, as well as Light Green Leaves, a 2002 album most notable for the indelible "Look at What the Light Did Now," a gorgeous singalong piece of oft-kilter folk that deserves to be passed down from generation to generation. Ever the drifter, Field never stays in the same place for very long, so sometimes the live Little Wings experience is just a voice and guitar, and sometimes Field writhes on the floor playing guitar licks like he's a hobo Jerry Garcia. Either way, you can't lose.

SEE IT:

Little Wings play Saturday, Oct. 23, at the Woods, with Breathe Owl Breathe and Graves. 9 pm. $10 advance, $12 day of show. 21+.

WWeek 2015

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