For the uninitiated, Frank Fairfield is a Fresno, California native (and now Los Angeles resident) and a genius on the fiddle, guitar and banjo.
He possesses a broken soulful voice that perfectly reflects the tragedy and damnation of the subject matter reflected in the timeless American music that he’s made his stock and trade through his albums on Tompkins Square, and through countless tours from coast to coast.
[vimeo 9660443 w=620&h=300]From California, USA, Frank sings tunes he has worked hard to collect from around the world as well as his own well-dusted ditties. His eclectic sets feature soaring hillbilly ballads, arcane rambling songs and murder ballads delivered in a reedy tenor with that irresistible American Primitive quality.
Still in his twenties but steeped in the pre-War Americana of Mississippi John Hurt and Dock Boggs, he cut his teeth as a street performer in LA and has the raw intensity and quick-fingered technique to make your hairs stand on end. Alternating between banjo, fiddle and guitar, he performs a different set of traditional songs and originals each night, drawing on his encyclopaedic knowledge of the American folk canon.
httpv://https://youtu.be/-YTZegTMVsw
Fleet Foxes handpicked him to open for them on their 2008 US tour and since then he has found fans elsewhere in Ry Cooder, CW Stoneking, Charlie Parr and Grammy winning producer Chris King (Charley Patton, ‘People Take Warning’ box set).
He has released two albums on Tompkins Square (home of Michael Chapman and James Blackshaw), a collection of traditionals on 2009′s eponymous album, followed by Out On The Open West (2010), featuring his own originals and a cast of guest musicians.
httpv://https://youtu.be/lefJBwJhQ6E
Both picked up rave reviews across the board. An ardent 78 rpm collector, he has also compiled a selection of rare and unheralded gramophone recordings from around the world entitled Unheard Ofs & Forgotten Abouts on his own Pawn imprint.
Frank Fairfield
presented by Since The Devil Is Gone I Mostly Feel Lonely
Thursday, 31. July 2014 | 20:00
Monarch | Skalitzer Str. 134 | 10999 Berlin/Kreuzberg
frankfairfield.bandcamp.com | Frank Fairfield @ qujunktions.com | kottimonarch.de
