Singer/pianist Will Faeber grew up fifty miles from Nashville and had his first record deal there at the age of 16. You can still hear the Nashville influence in his voice, but his music grew to include elements of jazz, rock, blues, and pop.
“I toured with Steve, son of Stan Getz,” he says. The younger Getz is a drummer. “In the five years I played with him, I saw the jazz world dying. All the jazz clubs we played closed.”
Faeber course-corrected just a bit and expanded his musical reach. “I haven’t done hip-hop yet,” he says, “but I have worked with some beats.”
His first collection of songs for Topless Records, No Small Comfort, was released in Europe in 1997 and was an immediate hit. Dave Allen of the BBC called it, “one of the best of the year.”
“It was ahead of its time,” says Faeber, “and, it’s pretty danceable. That’s what made it take off.”
Faeber and his band toured England and Europe for three years, where they were headliners at large outdoor events like the Jacksonville Festival. “I played Wembley twice.”
Faeber’s album Travel by Stars, was released in 2009. His band has included saxophone and flute player Greg Pardue, electric guitar wiz John DePatie (Nancy Sinatra’s band), bassist Gary Peek, and drummer Carlos Hatem.
In late 2011, Faeber wrote and directed an amateur film for which he also wrote and released a soundtrack CD, Clothing Optional, and his band Cathouse Thursday were voted best band at the annual Rockfest at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas.
In 2012, he finally released his full-length Walking My Elephant, recorded around the turn of the century but shelved after the owner of Faeber’s record label had a heart attack. The label chief could no longer work in the industry, but he refused to release ownership of his label’s catalog nor Faeber from his contract.
Instead, Faeber sat in a house in Malibu and “looked at the surf” for a few years. “Lawyers were involved,” he says. Years later, the singer/songwriter finally gained control of the record.