Michael Fair's partnership with the trumpet began early in his life. At the age of 12 he was given his first horn. It was no time at all until he began playing the songs that he heard his parents listening to by Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass. Michael's early performances included solo features in school bands and church services. He studied trumpet performance at Middle Tennessee State University and Graduated in 1979 with a Bachelors Of Music. Early post college gigs included the typical frat band circuit, club gigs and casuals. Michael moved to Southern California in 1985 and actually didn't touch the trumpet or flugelhorn for two years while pursuing other interests. A move back to Nashville in 1987 seemed as natural as picking the horn back up and joining up with a new band, The Cliff Notes, at the time . Working with this group gave Michael exposure to the Nashville music community, opening up opportunities for both live and session work.
Michael has been fortunate enough to share the stage on shows with such legends as Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Larry Carlton, Olivia Newton-John, Leon Russell, John Hyatt, Sam Moore, Carman, Claude McKnight, Amy Grant, and Jim Horn just to name a few.
Michael met Brandon Barnes in 1995 while Brandon was in Nashville working with Claude McKnight from Take 6. Brandon was a fan of the flugelhorn and loved Michael's sound when he heard him playing at a Nashville club. The two "hit it off" and talked about doing a smooth jazz horn project for years.
" It was easy and natural to do these tunes with Brandon. We really like one another and respect each other's talents and as a result the songs seemed to just flow and write themselves. I feel very lucky to get to work with someone as accomplished and successful as Brandon. " -- Michael. Fair.