Fair's, The Best Worst-Case Scenario, turned 20

Feeling the feels of 2006

The other day marked the 20th anniversary of Fair’s The Best Worst-Case Scenario.

I recently sat down with my old Fair bandmates, Erick Newbill, Nick Barber, and Joey Sanchez on Church Jams Now, and the conversation left me with a strange mix of nostalgia and awareness of the current moment.

I’ve been really lucky. I’ve managed to have so many amazing opportunities to do what I love, with people I love, despite racking up my share of personal baggage and working in a field that is significantly impacted by a constantly and exponentially narrowing culture.

Wasn’t 2006 a strange time?

YouTube was brand new. The dopamine drive of MySpace still felt pretty innocuous. Capitol Hill felt like a haven for artists and musicians. Bands like Deathcab for Cutie, Band of Horses, Jimmy Eat World, and The Shins were on top, but the torch of independent music still had a flicker. It still felt worth pursuing. We had no idea how much was going to change. How creativity was going to change. (Let me be clear, here, it’s still worth pursuing. More on that later?)

At the time, I was producing a lot of records and had this really fucking dumb idea that I wanted to be in a band again. When we dove into making The Best Worst-Case Scenario, we just wanted to make a good record. We just wanted to make some music together. For the sound of it. For the hell of it. And, if I’m being completely honest, to help me finish out a less-than-ideal solo record contract. And when we were done, it was great. It was so much closer to that unattainable “it” thing that you search for your whole life than anything I thought I’d ever do.

I used to love taking credit for my ideas and compositions, but the more time that passes I’m really fully convinced we’re just here to unearth it. And at the end of the day, 2006 or 2026, that’s still our job. But I have to say, 20 years later, I’m still really fucking proud of this record.

I dropped a link to the Church Jams Now conversation, where we share stories about making the album, talk about Ryan Clark’s incredible artwork, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Recording Package in 2007 (and lost to Tool’s 10,000 Days, if you were wondering), and just generally conduct some band banter.

I’ve also included a handful of photos from the sessions at my old Capitol Hill studio, the Compound, and of course, a link to the album.

Hope you enjoy.