It all began, as these things often do, with a small child and a guitar that wasn’t quite in tune. Six-year-old Ross Christopher Fairbairn, equipped with the unshakable confidence of someone who had never been wrong before (and wasn’t about to start now), pointed this out to his dad. Skeptical but curious, his father rechecked the tuning—and lo, the kid was right. The next day, perhaps out of awe or a desire to channel this terrifyingly accurate ear, his dad took him to a piano lesson. From that moment on, music became his compass, his obsession, and his and his way to get in tune with the world around him.

Over the years, his musical world expanded: guitar, upright and electric bass, banjo, and an unreasonable amount of ukulele. By 2012, he had packed his life into a metaphorical suitcase (and a few actual ones) and hit the road, touring nearly coast to coast across Canada and New Zealand as a bassist. He played in clubs, coffee shops, and living rooms, building a career on long drives, late nights, and the strange magic of road life. His mum, who had always hoped he’d pursue music, was over the moon.

But life, being life, had other plans. In 2016, when his mum became seriously ill, Ross left his programming job, moved back home, and helped care for her. When she passed in 2017, the loss hit hard—but it also clarified things. Music, always a companion, became his purpose. He leaned into it completely, not just as a livelihood but as a tribute to the person who believed in him from day one.

Through the pandemic, he kept creating. Alongside his bandmates, he wrote and recorded from home, DIYed music videos and feature-length art films, and co-produced the score for The Bar Without a Neon Sign, an experimental film by C.R. Avery. The film went on to win Best Score at the 2022 Golden Horse International Film Festival and premiered in New Zealand in 2023, where Ross joined the tour with live performances alongside the screenings.

By 2025, after years of backing other artists, Ross is stepping out front with Finally, At Last—his debut solo EP and his most personal work yet. His sound fuses the raw energy of Green Day and Metallica with the storytelling grit of Fred Eaglesmith, Danny Michel, and Tom Waits. He’ll promote the release with a coast-to-coast Canadian tour—20 shows in one month, from showrooms to cideries, breweries to summer festivals—before circling back to B.C. to begin recording his follow-up full-length album, Up To Now, in early 2026.

Offstage, Ross will begin his MFA in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia in the fall. It's a chance to sharpen his craft, expand his storytelling toolkit, and push his songwriting into new territory—part musical evolution, part poetic education.

Today, along with his solo work, Ross remains a trusted collaborator and respected bassist in Vancouver’s music scene. He juggles three bands, a growing roster of students, and the occasional existential debate about who decided which way string numbers should go. You can find him onstage in pubs, clubs, cabarets, concert series, and festival fields from Victoria to Ottawa, Vancouver to Whitehorse.

His mum would be rather proud of him.