As the anticipation builds for the upcoming Frozen Dead Guy Days 2024, Spafford's bass player, Jordan Fairless, fondly known as J0rby, reflects on the band's tumultuous journey from old shuttle buses to headlining performances.

“I still have this memory in my mind. We had this old shuttle bus that we attempted to turn into a tour bus. It's a terrible idea. It was a money pit like we could never get the AC to work, we overloaded the transmission with our trailer, it was just like a really bad idea, but that was the first time I heard of this festival. It's like, well, that sounds cool. Like, we'd love to play that one day, you know, and at that point, we had never done like a big successful tour, it was still a lot of like what ifs,” recalled Fairless.

Don’t miss the chance to see Spafford’s headlining performance at Frozen Dead Guy Days 2024 in Estes Park. Fairless expresses the band’s long-standing aspiration to play at Frozen Dead Guy Days. 

“I've been thinking about that since 2015. So finally here, nine years later, to come back and like play and be a part of it is so cool," said Fairless.

Fairless says the whole band eagerly anticipates the experience of Colorado's most eclectic festival. 

“I just love the idea and getting out there. It's gonna be a whole lot of fun to get to check it out and experience after nine years of mystery,” he says. 

Spafford is known for their improvisation and extended jams which captivate audiences for hours. According to Fairless, it’s difficult to define their genre. 

“The closest thing I can tell people is funk, but then it's not because we can border on you know, pretty heavy rock, or we could be in disco, or plain old trance or dubstep or whatever, you know. So it's really just an experimental dance party is what I ended up at,” he said. 

When it comes to what style they will focus on at a show the band leaves it up to fate. 

“We'll be dependent on probably three or four songs, and then making everything fit around those, and then whatever the crowd is feeling. Somewhere in the combination of that is what that night will be,” explains Fairless.

Spafford’s roots lie in the southwestern United States, originating in Arizona, but Fairless says, Colorado has become part of their usual stomping grounds. 

“Colorado was always like a second home outside of cities in Arizona, and it remains still one of our top three markets in the country. So Colorado is always forever, cemented as part of our Southwestern upbringing,”  he says. 

As for his personal journey with music, Fairless expresses his intrinsic need to create. 

“I play music now because, at some point, the passion for playing music became greater than the passion for listening to and going to see music, which growing up was my main passion in life. Going to see concerts playing music with people and listening to music and I always had headphones on," he recalls.

While Fairless can play many different instruments, he explains that the bass stole his heart, saying, “The bass is such a cool instrument in the way that it blends rhythm, harmony, and melody like all together because it really can, and in a way that no other instrument does.

Catch Spafford live at Frozen Dead Guy Days on March 16, 2024, in Estes Park. Get your tickets now at frozendeadguydays.com.