Soul Legend Lee Fields Brings The Expressions to Orange Peel April 2

Elmer Lee Fields, born April 26, 1950, has carried the nickname "Little JB" for decades, a nod to his physical and vocal resemblance to James Brown. At 75, he is still at it. On Thursday, April 2, the New Jersey-based singer brings his classic soul sound to Asheville at The Orange Peel, appearing with the Expressions to serve up classics from his catalog, including songs from his 2022 album, "Sentimental Fool."

The show starts at 8 p.m., with doors at 7 p.m., and is an ages 18 and up event. Tickets are $40.42 at The Orange Peel, located at 101 Biltmore Ave. San Francisco soul outfit Monophonics opens the night.

Fields' path to that stage is one of the stranger success stories in American soul music. He recorded his first single in 1969 and has remained active ever since. He first made his name among die-hard funk fans with a series of hard-hitting singles recorded for various small labels during the 1970s. Everything about Fields, his look, his vocals, the grooves on his records, was so indebted to James Brown that he earned the nickname "Little J.B." Fields never hit it big, but his rough-and-tumble singles became popular collectors' items.

After a lengthy hiatus, he returned in the 1990s as a soul-blues belter. Thanks to sample-obsessed hip-hoppers and British rare-groove aficionados, interest in lesser-known vintage funk reached a new peak in the late 1990s, and Fields was fortunate enough to have remained active when fresh recordings in the style became a viable proposition. In 1998, he became the first Desco Records artist to release a full-length album, "Let's Get a Groove On." Its strict adherence to organic, classic-style James Brown funk, with no synthesizers or drum machines, won admiring reviews and helped put Desco on the map with a hip underground audience.

Lee Fields and The Expressions released "My World" for Truth and Soul in 2009, and the pairing proved lasting. Fields and The Expressions toured globally almost nonstop, playing to ever larger audiences on the festival circuit in Europe and sold-out houses at home. In 2022, Fields released "Sentimental Fool," his full-length debut for Daptone Records, the Brooklyn label that also launched the late Sharon Jones. Fields' songs have been sampled by artists including J. Cole, Slum Village, and Travis Scott, who sampled "All I Need" from "Emma Jean" on his 2015 hit "Antidote."

His current tour runs from April 2 through May 9, 2026. The Orange Peel stop is the first date on the run, making Asheville the launching point for a stretch that carries Fields and The Expressions across the country through spring.

Fields told Mountain Xpress: "I'm looking to have a very good time in Asheville.