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What would it be like to have your old man working in the same music scene as you? When I discovered that not only are there two guitar-playing Mike Fairs in Cincinnati, but they are also father and son, I had to find out more. It turns out the Fairs are genuinely inspired by one another and were more than happy to discuss the ups (there are no downs) of the father-son dynamic in their creative development.
Both have had a fair amount (ouch) of success locally. Mike Sr. played with Ma Crow and the Flock and is currently in three bands — Wojo, The Blue Ravens and MC Blue. As you might have guessed, he’s a Blues guitarist, and one with a great balance of groove and soloing abilities. His tasty work can also be found on the new Messerly & Ewing disc.
Mike Jr. has taken the Post Punk path, fronting such seminal Cincinnati Indie bands as The Throbs and Haleymill. His brand new project, Abbington, should continue to showcase his intense, dynamic guitar and raw vocal style.
Although Mike Sr. had started playing around 13 (about the same age Mike Jr. picked it up) he didn’t really get serious until the ’90s, playing at open jams around the city.
This is also how he passed the torch to “Sonny” (Mike Sr.’s term of endearment for Jr., borrowed from “Sonny Boy” Williamson), at a regular Saturday Blues jam at The Brew House in Walnut Hills.
“Sonny and I would go over there, and he became sort of a superstar,” the elder Fair recalls. “They’d just fall apart when the 13-year-old took a solo.”
“Keep in mind I was in seventh grade, and these guys are drinking beer at two in the afternoon,” adds Mike Jr. A breeding ground for great stories if ever there was one. Mike Sr. quickly pulls one out.
“One time his mom came to see her little boy play with all the hot shots,” he says. “There was this girl, Patty, who starts strutting around and singing ‘Down Home Blues.’ When I took him home that night, she asked about the woman at the bar. Sonny says, ‘Oh, that’s Patty, she just got out of the joint for cuttin’ some guy.’ And I’m thinking, ‘This is over.’ ”
Thankfully, the tutelage continued. Although the father downplays his role, it’s clear some influence has seeped in.
“It’s weird, I’ll play passages in a solo, and I can recognize it’s obviously influenced by Mike Fair Sr., and it makes me smile,” Fair Jr. says. “Little combinations of notes and timing, you know where they come from and that’s kind of cool.”
Another area where having a musically inclined father paid off was in exposure to more substantive music than most kids get. The appreciation wasn’t automatic, however.
“I was afraid that Sonny would never get into the Blues. Then one of his favorites, Billy Childish, did a record of Jimmy Reed covers, and he asked if I had any Jimmy Reed,” says Mike Sr. “So we had this great Blues night, checking out all of this stuff.”
“This is the first generation in the history of mankind where kids and parents agree on music,” Mike Sr. proclaims. “I’d run around screaming when my dad played Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman. Today, kids still spin Brit Invasion-sounding stuff.”
Mike Jr. asserts that it’s a two-way street. “Dad introduced me to Wilco, and when I hear something ’60s influenced I give it to him to check out.”
There are other family members who directed the pair’s musical growth. Mike Sr. credits his uncle, who was “sort of a preacher” and who had willed a Gibson to him on his deathbed.
Mike Jr. recalls that grandpa sang Barbershop, played clarinet and “just about everything else.” His uncle (Sr.’s brother) played in a Punk band in St. Louis in the early ’80s, and his sister influenced him when she started buying Cure records and took him to see bands like Sonic Youth and The Lemonheads at Bogart’s.
Musical collaborations between the two are rare, but fulfilling. “There was a Wojo/Haleymill show at (now-closed Over-the-Rhine club) The Overflow,” remembers Mike Jr. “For the last song, dad got up on stage and we traded off licks and then it was dueling solos — very heavy. It was just a great moment; it sounded like it was rehearsed.”
“Sonny’s played with Ma Crow and MC Blue, those bands sort of lend themselves to that, but this was really special,” Mike Sr. adds. “It was one of his tunes and one that I always wanted to play on.”
The reverence for his son’s work is apparent. “I’ve been trying to keep up with him for the past decade. His right hand is a machine. And his guitar tone? My mouth just hangs open.”
Abbington, Fair Jr.’s new project is a familiar arrangement for him: guitar, bass and drums. “I can’t escape it,” he jokes. “But musically, it’s like starting from the ground up again. We’re taking it slow, fortunately the bass player and drummer share my love of home recording.”
As does his father. Wojo will be recording their next album at Sr.’s place, “spread out like at Sammy Davis Jr.’s pool house,” he jokes
While they have full plates musically, the pair is sketchy on plans for Father’s Day. Lunch, brunch, dinner, something like that,” guesses Jr.
The elder Fair floats an idea.
“We haven’t been to the driving range in a while.” Insert “fair”way joke here. “Maybe play some Putt-Putt?”
ABBINGTON (abbingtonband.com) debuts at Bar Humbug this Friday. Wojo (worldwidewojo.com) plays at Northside Tavern Wednesday. And The Blue Ravens play at Our Place Too in Hebron, Ky., on Friday.
This article appears in Jun 16-22, 2004.
