MUSIC

Born in the deep forests of Texas and raised in the Great Plains of Indiana, Minnesota, and Iowa, Hannah moved around a lot from small town to small town.  Her family did a great deal of camping all over the U.S. while she and her siblings were growing up, and she quickly took to nature like a wild child, adventurous and daring, climbing trees and rocks. 

Without TV in the home early on, her mother rented an upright Kawai, and Hannah persuaded one of her babysitters to teach her Fur Elise, which she learned and memorized by ear around age 5.  She was hooked and spent the better portion of most days at the piano.  She started classical lessons at age 8 and carried on until graduating high school.  She picked up alto saxophone in the school band at about 10 years old and carried that on with classical lessons too until high school graduation. 

By the time Hannah was 12 she had composed several original pieces, and some arrangements of already existing works.  She loved composing on a keyboard her parents had bought, able to arrange songs with bass, drums, guitar, and other parts too.  Her teachers spoke of her talent to her parents, but worried for her lack of focus, always showing up to lessons with the repertoire memorized (no longer reading or realizing the merit in following the music), or not having learned certain pieces...only wanting to show them original pieces she had written.  It was strongly recommended Hannah be sent to a conservatory, where she could receive stricter guidance.

Hannah attended Dorian music camp three summers at Luther college in Iowa, where the same dilemma became apparent in her peers.  Instead of pushing to be strong technically, Hannah chose covers of rock and roll songs, and eclectic compositions of her own.  She did not let her peers' virtuoso intimidate her though, and was chosen to play an original piece - "Don't Know" at the camp's talent show.  It was her first major public performance of an original song, and she was 13.

After high school Hannah lived in Peru for a year where she bought and taught herself to play the guitar.

Hannah moved to New York City to pursue a degree in Film and Television from New York University, but set straight away to booking gigs.  She played her first gig at 18 in NYC at CBGB with little knowledge of the rock and roll history of the place.  The gig was a great success, and was the spark that set off several years of ravenous booking, playing, and pursing work with bands and other musicians.

Though CBGB shut down shortly thereafter, Hannah found her way to the Bleecker Street club The Bitter End, which became her home base.  Friends with the owner and staff, she hung around the likes of Gavin Degraw, John Mayer, and Joss Stone.   It was owner Kenny Gorka that introduced Hannah to the producers of  the band Girls Don't Cry which she became a rhythm guitarist and vocalist for, for two years.  And it was a Girls Don't Cry show that led her to Kolker - a blues rock band headed by famous blues guitarist David Kolker, which she became a guitarist and vocalist for for almost 3 years standing.

Fairlight has collaborated with countless artists since, including Liz Kelly,  Mark Steiner, Alexander Rastopchin.  She also spent almost a year playing in London and around Europe, and most notably collaborated with the band Everybody Be Cool.

She recently relocated to Sydney, Australia where she is digging into the music scene with hopes of hopping on a tour with an established group to gain more experience and more spread her fanbase internationally.  She has plans to perform regularly in Sydney and Melbourne for the coming months. 

 FILM & TV

Hannah is an experienced location sound recordist and studio engineer, and has done ample film and television work in New York City and London.  She worked for the BBC on the prime time program "Inside Sport" and is currently directing her first documentary "Sweet Surrender" about The Chocolate Room in Park Slope, Brooklyn.  Watch the trailer and learn more soon!

Friends and Influences

Stone Temple Pilots, TOOL, Tori Amos, Heidi Renee, swimming in Lake Superior, Chris Whitley, Nine Inch Nails, The Cure, Electric Six, Weezer, The Helio Sequence, Ben Folds, cycling through Ireland, Pearl Jam, They Might Be Giants, R.E.M., Chumbawamba, Kings of Leon, Maximo Park, Islay single malt scotch, Regina Spektor, Patty Griffin,  Girl in a Coma, Brazilian Girls, Foo Fighters, Bjork, KOLKER, good people with big hearts, Rage Against The Machine, Rufus Wainwright, Holding Back Entirely, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queens of the Stone Age, Robbie Gil, Heidi Renee, The Pogues, Cherish the Ladies, Josh Dion Band, Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles, The Guess Who, Who, America, late night dish-doing with dad, Three Dog Night, Phil Collins, Paul Simon, Creedence Clearwater Revival, winter in Minnesota, The Cars, U2, Talking Heads, The Allman Brothers Band, Peter Frampton, hockey and ice fishing, The Steve Miller Band, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, small towns, Jimi Hendrix, Rolling Stones, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Roxette,Carlie Simon, camping,