Fair to Midland

Still discussed and kept in piam memoriam in the alternative/progressive scenes today over half a decade since they quietly stepped out of the industry entirely, Texas-based Fair to Midland achieved through the run of just four albums seems pretty special. Managing to secure a high-profile record deal with Serj Tankian's label before dropping one of their two most notable discs Fables From a Mayfly, they seemed to have done everything right until then, laying a strong cult following foundation in their home state while cutting their teeth on stage with years of gigging marked by the release of two independent albums.

Plucked from the edge of insolvency and disbandment by Tankian's call, they combined freshly written material and reworked pieces from their earlier releases into an amply funded, lushly produced debut that started their unfortunately short run at mainstream success, Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times is True. A rich draught of alt-metal and hardcore-tinged power pop, Fables cemented the band's reputation as up and comers to watch as they began their largest tour ever to support it.

Four years later saw the release of their fourth and ultimately final album, Arrows and Anchors, in 2011. Darker and more progressive than Fables with less of a fixation on high-flying choruses, it was (and probably still is) their best-selling effort. As you probably have already figured out, though, is that Fair to Midland didn't last long after dropping this album as mounting debt, family and scholastic obligations, and the large physical distance between the members all contributed to a quiet curtain call elaborated on by just a Facebook post from the drummer.

At this point hopes for a reunion don't seem to be running high anymore since the radio silence of the band members for the last several years began, but it took the Galactic Cowboys nearly seventeen to get back together after their last record, so we might just be in for a long wait. While the group itself may no longer be active, that doesn't change the fact that they produced some excellent music in their time together.