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MEET THE ARTBURST WRITERS: TRACY FIELDS
ARTBURST BLOG
MEET THE ARTBURST WRITERS: TRACY FIELDS
August 13, 2014
By Josie Gulliksen
Already a well-established Miami radio personality thanks to her show Evenin’ Jazz on WLRN, Tracy Fields now adds music writer for the Artburst Miami media website to her repertoire. She has been a perfect fit.
A former wire service reporter and freelancer for MiamiInside Out and Miami Business Magazine, she knew she would eventually turn to music, a passion of hers from an early age.
“Words and music have always been important parts of my life. I grew up in a home where both were loved,” Fields said.
She inherited that passion mainly from her father who “loved the arts, especially music. He also instilled in me respect and affection for words and what they can do,” she said.
Her work at WLRN keeps her entrenched in the music scene and provides her with a means to get to know many of the musicians she interviews in depth and personally.
She particularly enjoyed speaking with Brazilian pianist and composer Antonio Adolfo and hearing his memories of being around at the birth of the country’s bossa nova sound.
Two of the most touching and intense conversations were with pianist and composer Lynne Arriale who discussed her insights on being an adopted child and also with Rene Marie who survived an abusive marriage and has gone on to become a successful singer-songwriter at midlife.
Then there was the young singer-songwriter Cecile McLorin-Salvant from Miami who Fields said is “startlingly talented and someone she’s truly enjoyed watching become internationally renowned.”
Her favorites though “are my South Florida musicians, to whom I devote my show Miami Mondays and Beyond, the first show of each week,” Fields said.
Both Artburst and the arts scene in Miami excite and thrill her especially because “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to share music with people, that is my life and I’m happy to have Artburst as another vehicle to do that.”
And the arts in Miami are what she loves about the city in general, especially the different kinds of people around the city.
“They each bring their traditions to the mix with what they encounter here. I find the result endlessly fascinating,” Fields said.
Tracey is also an adjunct professor of Communications at St. Thomas University. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Media Arts Broadcast and Journalism from Hampton Institute and a Masters in Communication from Georgia State.
Miami’s ever-growing melting pot should keep her interest for years to come.