Though his performances evoke the rugged terrain of Appalachian hollows, with a timbre evoking ancient mountain echoes while rendering obscure blues compositions and tales of homicide on banjo, guitar, or fiddle, Frank Fairfield originates from California's San Joaquin Valley. During his formative years, he moved frequently throughout the state, engaging in miscellaneous employment, factory work, and sporadic education. Upon establishing residence in Los Angeles, he found success performing for passersby on urban sidewalks, allowing his enthusiasm for vintage 78 rpm records and earlier eras' sounds to flourish through his artistic growth, effectively replicating the styles of the historic players he admired. Securing an initial support position for Fleet Foxes on their concert circuit led to a contract with Tompkins Square, a label specializing in folk and roots traditions, which issued his first full-length effort, simply called Frank Fairfield, during 2009. His subsequent project from 2010, Unheard Ofs & Forgotten Abouts, drew instead from a vast archive of those antique discs in his possession. Tompkins Square then put out his genuine follow-up record, Out on the Open West, in 2011.
