Arkansas Duo Rightfield Share Stripped Down Acoustic Rendition Of “Gone!”

Arkansas duo Rightfield released their debut full-length Rightfield, One at the beginning of 2021, along with a deluxe version not too much later. Included in the collection is their melancholic indie pop hit “Gone!”, and now the pair of Blocker and Reed Hoelscher have shared the stripped down acoustic version along with its minimalist performance video. Taking the glossy pop production out of the picture and replacing it with southern country twang and a more candid vocal performance, the new version was written during the period of time where live streaming was the only option for performance.

“Our album Rightfield, One released while most things were still shut down during the pandemic, so we were never able to perform the new songs around the release”, the band share. “The only live music opportunities at the time were virtual livestream events and small acoustic performances so we got pretty comfortable stripping down our songs from the album and playing them that way.

About the song, they continue:

“Gone! is a really simple song in concept that we wrote and fully recorded in the span of a few days. It’s a really bright/easy-listening track that focuses much more on the melodic energy than the lyrical concept. We realized after performing the song a few times in an acoustic setting that it actually gets pretty tender and introspective. In the original track the lyrics feel very care-free but when the song is stripped down and performed a bit darker, it feels like there’s some real regret and uncertainty. In some ways this presentation of the song reminded us of 80’s country artists like Townes Van Zandt and Blaze Foley so we decided to record a version of the song that explored that direction.

We wanted it to feel natural, like you’re sitting on the porch listening to us strum and sing the song. A lot of the old Country/Americana records that we love are just live performances at bars or clubs where the slight imperfections are what make the songs really special, so we were excited to try to incorporate some of that raw feeling in the track.

All of the pedal steel in the track was played by our friend Steve Palousek who is actually a member of the pedal steel hall of fame. We felt good about the song before he played on it, but his performance elevated the whole track in such a cool way. He added some magical moments to the song that feel different than anything we’ve created in the past. We’re really excited to share this song with our audience because it feels like a window into some of the southern influences that are really dear to us“.

Enjoy the new rendition below: