Fairman & Friends

For the past two years, SN&R has produced the Jammies, two nights onstage where promising classical and pop high-school musicians get to perform. Both years’ pop-music programs featured Christopher Fairman, whose debut CD is now available. Singer-guitarist Fairman and friends—pianist David DeMuri, drummer Jon McHenry and others—recorded these 10 songs (along with a hidden solo track featuring Fairman solo, singing what sounds like a quietly visceral indictment of an absentee dad). The group’s music together is surprisingly mature for a bunch of guys just out of high school. Fairman strums his acoustic guitar frenetically or cross-picks, his voice swooping in falsetto or hanging off the spaces between the notes; DeMuri’s piano playing adds elegance, while McHenry’s drums add dynamic depth.