Eternal Fair (from left) Chris Jones, Andrew Vait & Daniel Nash
By Amy M Huber
I am pretty new to this review thing, so bear with me. Perhaps, some of you can relate; I am a fan of music but not a musician. I mean, I really love music: I seem to date more musicians than are in the Seattle Symphony and yet at best I can play Hot Cross Buns on the recorder. So I am going to give you this review as an outside viewer, as a music fan and a fellow artist.
Walking with my friend into the back room of Liberty on Capitol Hill, I immediately noticed the lovely art design on Seattle band Eternal Fair’s new album hanging in a large-scale format on the side wall. The room was full with people who seemed fairly excited with ears ready to listen. As we sat down on the black leather couch Chris Jones, the band’s bass player enthusiastically chatted with me about the origin of the album cover design (by Ms Brie Elam). “There is a 60’s influence” said Chris. Originally hailing from Alaska, Eternal Fair used used mountain landscapes, photographed by Scott Dickerson, for the basis of the album cover design.
Eternal Fair has released an EP in the past but this particular event was being held as an opportunity to listen to their first full album release, The Horse That Carries the Wheel. I must tell you, the lead singer and guitar player, Andre Vait’s excitement was full-blown for as the first notes of the album began, he donned a rubber horse head and galloped in celebration around the room to the first track appropriately labeled, The Horse that Carries the Wheel. While listening I met a local fella who knew Chris from spending time around 15th Avenue and was curious about his band. As a visual artist I was drawn to the mesmerizing graphic displays on the big screen, that bumped and reacted in time with the melodies and at times strong bass lines of the album. The most standout song to me was called Michael John. The chorus of this song stuck with me this morning as I rolled out of bed.
For the actual Album Release show, another friend and I arrived at the lovely Columbia City Theater just in time to order a slider (which amazingly enough almost tricked me into thinking it was actual meat) along with two glasses of whiskey-ginger (one for my friend and one for me) and meandered our way to middle of the audience for a better view of the show. Again, the visuals on the wall caught my eye as a toothbrush, sitting on the ledge of an open window watched the feet and legs of pedestrians prancing by. And then the familiar horse head came out again to open the set. As the words Hello, Hello, Hello rang through the room, the show was in full swing.
Andrew’s voice was beautiful as he crooned the lyrics and after one more drink I decided I had stumbled upon a new Disney movie set with a rock band backing it up. Both the bartender and I agreed that a younger Phil Collins with very well assembled presentation had jumped on stage. The trio’s band added a fourth member for the evening on the keyboard (Brian Kinsella) and welcomed the tall blonde Meagan Grandall for harmonies at the end of the set for Brightest Star.
Illustration of Andrew Vait wearing his horse head, by Amy M Huber
I have to say, that my favorite part of the Eternal Fair’s album release events was witnessing the collaboration and support among a variety of local artists for both visuals and sound. In a society where we are bombarded with so many types of sensory stimuli it’s great when they can combine to provide a balanced experience for the audience.
Eternal Fair is comprised of : Andrew Vait – vocals, guitars, wurlitzer, mellotrons, Chris Jones – bass, vocals, Daniel Nash – drums, vocals, percussion
To experience the sounds and visuals of Eternal Fair log onto their bandcamp for the track Static Youth (video below) and a chance to purchase their new album.
Notes from Anna on the author
Amy M. Huber is an illustrator, visual artist and graphic designer living in the Seattle area. Originally hailing from Texas, Amy much like some of her designs has a sweet and quirky spirit. Her recent illustration for Aida and the Duke of Doubt is a good example of what I’m talking about. Amy designed our poster for Light Up The Sky and featured some of her recent sketch book experiment during at our Art Walk booth last summer. In addition to loving music and musicians, she’s also incredibly generous with her time and her talent in the art community and we remain very pleased and fortunate to have made her acquaintance.
Artists for Artists 
rad review!
Thanks!