FRANK FAIRFIELD – AUSTRALIA 2011

Micronations presents, for the first time in Australia….

FRANK FAIRFIELD (USA)

“A young Californian who sings and plays as someone who’s crawled out of the Virginia mountains carrying familiar songs that in his hands sound forgotten: broken lines, a dissonant drone, the fiddle or the banjo all percussion, every rising moment louder than the one before it.” – GREIL MARCUS

“Frank Fairfield is the sort of person who makes you feel sort of glad to be alive, so passionate is he about his obsessions from a bygone age. Just talking to him for a few moments makes your heart begin to beat a little slower.” – THE GUARDIAN

“… his destitute voice makes the microphone crackle, his fingers sliding and snapping against the strings…. Fairfield’s style inspires trances.” – PITCHFORK

Frank Fairfield is a one-man tour de force, a twenty-five year old Californian multi-instrumentalist (vocals, banjo, fiddle, guitar) dynamo who is resolutely circumventing and re-writing the rules for the folk/”popular” song tradition for the present age.

A torchbearer for the misunderstood (honest) or under-appreciated (overlooked in a haze of hype and blog hits) songs of yesteryear and an intrinsically linked work ethic of dedication and understatement, Frank is sustaining and rehabilitating this tradition through his powerful and emotional voice, and through his musicianship – his performances on banjo, fiddle and guitar are technically proficient without being showy, whilst somehow simultaneously played with an ease that tacitly encourages the collaboration and continuation of these songs for the centuries to come.

With a mountainous and religious upbringing and the inevitable relocation and inebriation in his formative adult years, Fairfield was “discovered” busking in Los Angeles in 2008. A year later Frank’s music was embraced by a wider audience following the release of a 7” single and self-titled debut album on the Tompkins Square label. In 2011 Frank reunited with Tompkins Square for his second full-length album, Out On The Open West, expanding his repertoire to perform his own self-penned songs with guest accompaniment from Willie Watson (Old Crow Medicine Show), Jerron “Blind Boy” Paxton and other luminaries. Out On The Open West is a fascinating artistic statement from Frank, proving that his raw passion and incredible musicianship are equally matched by a magnificent and powerful songwriting ability.

All the while Frank has honed his remarkable live performance with regular touring throughout North America and Europe, with extended jaunts alongside Fleet Foxes, Charlie Parr, and C.W. Stoneking; curated a compilation album of oddities and curios found on 78 RPM records, performed live to air on NPR; and been the subject of a acclaimed documentary.

Touring Australia for the first time in December, Frank Fairfield will be appearing at the Meredith Music Festival in Victoria and on select headlining dates along the East Coast. You really don’t want to miss this.

FRANK FAIRFIELD – AUSTRALIA – 2011

Friday 9 December: Melbourne: Basement Discs: short in-store set / signing: 12:45pm sharp, free entry.

Friday 9 December: Bendigo: Bendigo Folk Club, with The Sitting Ducks. $17/12, door sales only, 8pm.

Saturday 10 December: Melbourne: The Old Bar, with The Quarry Mountain Dead Rats + Merri Creek Pickers. $15 (door sales only), 8pm. SOLD OUT.

Sunday 11 December: Meredith: Meredith Music Festival. www.mmf.com.au for more lineup and ticketing information. SOLD OUT.

Tuesday 13 December: Cronulla: Brass Monkey with The Singing Skies + Spookyland (solo). Tickets on sale now through oztix and at the venue. $17+bf, $20 on the door if available. 7:30pm.

Wednesday 14 December: Sydney: The Basement, with 49 Goodbyes + Jefrey Siler. Tickets on sale now through moshtix. $20+bf, $25 on the door if available. 7:30pm.

Thursday 15 December: Brisbane: Syncretism @ Judith Wright Centre, with Ryan Francesconi [USA]. Tickets on sale now. (co-presentation with ROOM40). $20 (presale), ~~$22 on the door if available.~~ 8pm. SOLD OUT.

Friday 16 December: Gold Coast: The SoundLounge, with Laneway + Anonymeye [Brisbane]: Tickets on sale now online through the venue. $17+bf, $20 on the door if available. 7:30pm.

Saturday 17 December: Melbourne: Gasometer, with Khancoban + The Orbweavers + Anonymeye [Brisbane]. ~~Tickets on sale now through oztix. $15+bf, $20 on the door if available.~~ 8:00pm. SOLD OUT.

Sunday 18 December: Blackwood: The Blackwood Acoustic Music Revue, with The Flying Engine String Band + special guests. 3pm, $10, door sales only. (co-presentation with oldtimepromotions)

FRANK FAIRFIELD TOUR PRESS

Feature in The Australian by Lynden Barber
Feature in the Sydney Morning Herald by Bernard Zuel
Review of the Sydney show in the Sydney Morning Herald by Bernard Zuel
Live to air on ABC Radio National’s The Music Show (stream and download)
Live to air on PBS FM’s 5ft High & Rising (stream)
Features in Time Off, Drum Media, Inpress + review in Time Off at The Music (downloadable issues)
Feature in The Music by Michael Smith
Review of the Meredith Music Festival set in The Music
Feature in Rave Magazine by Dermot Clarke
Photo set of the Brisbane show by Bryan Spencer
Video of ‘Nine Pound Hammer‘ live at Melbourne – Old Bar.
Video of ‘Little Liza Jane‘ live in Brisbane
Video of ‘Rye Whiskey/Texas Farewell‘ live in Sydney
Video of ‘Someday You’ll Be Free‘ live on RRR FM – Twang, Melbourne.