It’s a Friday afternoon and J. R. Fields is preparing to close Truck Stop Clothing Co. for the night. Fields owns and operates the store on Magazine Street, where he has created a southern blues rock atmosphere. Vintage denim, leather, boots, trucker caps and belt buckles are scattered throughout, all complemented by a Kegerator tucked away in the corner. Hendrix is playing on a stereo situated behind the counter.

Within the first few moments of talking to Fields it becomes apparent that his music, much like his clothing shop, is deeply reflective of his own lifestyle and philosophies. “I’ve always considered what I do to be essentially New Orleans Blues metal,” he says. “I mean, the one thing I’ve come to realize about myself is that I’m basically a ’70s blues rocker. Anything that took blues and made it ultra-heavy and loud as hell and powerful – that’s what I dig.” Fields’ personal preferences are on display on the self-titled Blackfire Revelation LP, recently released under Fields’ own Southern Reconstruction label.

Initially written and recorded by Fields and drummer Hank Haney more than five years ago, Blackfire Revelation sat on a shelf collecting dust until some time last year when Fields decided to pull it down. Upon listening to the album for the first time in years, Fields decided he had to make Blackfire Revelation, along with BFR’s debut EP on Fat Possum Records Gold and Guns on 51, available to the public once again, this time in both digital and physical form. “I feel like I owe that much to the songs and just to the efforts that we made then,” he says.

Much has changed for Blackfire Revelation between the recording of Gold and Guns on 51 in 2004 and now. The devastation of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 was to the band, like all inhabitants of New Orleans, a monumental setback. And while the storm made it hard for Fields and Haney to conduct business as usual for a majority of the following year, the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina served as a huge inspiration during the writing of Blackfire Revelation.

“I feel like [Blackfire Revelation] is very directly related to the things that were going on in my life at the time, and in a lot of people’s lives around me. Especially songs like ‘The Flood.’ I don’t think I could have written that song in any other place besides New Orleans in late 2005,” says Fields. “People tell me, ‘Man, it’s a lot heavier and more serious than Gold and Guns on 51.’ My response is usually, ‘When I was writing it, it was a fucking heavy and serious time – period. So I think naturally the music is reflective of that.”

But Hurricane Katrina wasn’t the only external force that held a considerable influence over the band in its recent past. Exhaustion from endless tours and studio time, job opportunities, and Fields’ desire to start a family all contributed to the band’s decision to enter into an indefinite hiatus at the end of the 2006 summer. This decision had serious and likely negative implications for BFR fans, but it had a more positive effect on Fields as a musician and a person. “The reason I love playing music so much now is because I make money from my business, and the only real accolades I’m looking for are for being a good father. Now the only thing I’m looking for out of my music is the music itself. It’s in my blood. This is what i do,” explains Fields triumphantly.

If you are, however, one of those fans still waiting for the return of BFR in full-swing, hold on to hope. Fields admits, “Right now I don’t have any plans to play live. I’ll probably spend some more time in the studio before I play live again. But just because I’m saying that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t play next month some time. It could kind of just happen.”