Craig Fairbaugh

Craig Fairbaugh (born March 11, 1978) is a guitarist and back-up vocalist for the rock band +44 (pronounced "plus forty-four"). The band is made up of Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker formerly of the popular pop punk band blink-182, and Shane Gallagher of The Nervous Return. Craig is also the guitarist and vocalist of the goth rock/punk band Mercy Killers.

Early life

Fairbaugh grew up in the Bay Area and began playing guitar at the age of 15. He later formed and fronted his own three-piece band called Vintage 46, although the band never really played more than local house parties and small hometown gigs. Along the way, Fairbaugh handed off a demo CD to Rancid’s Tim Armstrong who vowed to release one of the band’s albums on a new label he was starting up. Unfortunately that never materialized. He later moved to Los Angeles to try pursue his musical interests.

Career

He also currently sings and plays guitar for the Hellcat Records punk rock band Mercy Killers. He was made an official member of +44 (band) after their former guitarist Carol Heller had left the band while the group was recording their debut album, When Your Heart Stops Beating, which was released on November 14th, 2006, drummer Travis Barker's birthday. Fairbaugh has also played for Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards, Transplants and The Forgotten in the past, and contributed his voice for the spoken introduction to Alkaline Trio's "Warbrain", which was featured on Rock Against Bush Volume 1. Fairbaugh went on the warped tour with the Transplants, and played with them live twice on Jimmy Kimmel.

Relationships

Craig is engaged to Kimberly Cash, a relative of the late singer, Johnny Cash, who is coincidentally one of his heroes.

Equipment

Craig plays Gibson Les Paul guitars and for +44, uses a Fender Twin amp with a Fulltone distortion pedal. When playing for Mercy Killers, he uses a Line 6 HD 147 but has also played Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifiers.

Influences

Some of Craig's influences are Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer of The Clash

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