Gee I don’t even recall when we first met Jad Fair, and that is the way it goes with both Jad and his brother, David. They have that familiarism like your favorite milkshake flavor. Everytime we see Jad it’s like yesterday and he lights up the room with his smile and spirit.
He was born in 1954 in Coldwater, Michigan. Part of a creative family, he and brother David had the famous band, Half Japanese. It was a time of underground music, not like the media streaming days of now. Kurt Cobain loved Half Japanese and was quoted that he loved walking around shopping malls listening to their music.
We had a visit end of 2021 from Jad after he played a gig in nearby Denton, Texas. His joy is infectious and just what we needed. He talked of current paper cuttings heavy on hearts and recording 127 albums last year on bandcamp (which I swear is a world record). Love seems to come easy to Jad for he has his lovely wife Patty, a small zoo of dogs and horses, and lives in a cool round house just outside of Austin which he built years back with his Father.
New news is that Jad and Patty are moving back to Michigan where they both began. Texas will sure miss them both, but Michigan is one lucky place to have them.
We have already started missing Jad & Patty, so at the first of September 2025, we squeezed in a visit to them while they are still in Texas. We were once again confirmed that Jad is the creative obsessive we love. All day with headphones on, he creates paper cuttings one after another in his sunny main room of their home. With dogs circling and the music that Patty plays throughout the house, creativity pours out of him like a golden elixir.
We were thrilled to bring back a collection of them to exhibit in Fort Davis and online for everyone to enjoy.
