Jordan Fairless Responds To Spafford Absence

Jordan Fairless posted a response to Spafford’s recent statement about the bassist’s membership in the band he co-founded. Fairless’ reply contradicts the assertion from the band that he chose to leave the group in 2024.

As reported, Fairless, who co-founded Spafford with guitarist Brian Moss in 2009, initially announced a “break from the road” in August 2024, with Spafford tapping bassist Shon Gordon to fill in for Fairless. In November 2024, Fairless posted a since-deleted update on social media in which he spoke about Spafford.

“Internal divisions have left me with no current plans to return to the stage with the band,” Fairless said in November 2024. “Brian and I started Spafford together almost 16 years ago and my hope is that we can resolve our differences and respect the legacy we built together. I know that is my intention and I would hope it would be Brian’s as well. While I have attempted to remain transparent throughout the difficult situation that was Summer Tour, I have not spoken to anyone from Spafford, besides our current band manager briefly, since our last band video call in July.”

Spafford’s statement regarding Fairless’ departure directly addressed the November 2024 social media post the bassist shared. The band wrote that Fairless’ November video left them “feeling shocked and confused.”

”We typically don’t share our business affairs publicly, which is why we haven’t addressed this matter,” Spafford statement read in part. “That being said, in the summer of 2024, Jordan notified us that he wished to conclude his time with Spafford both verbally and in writing. Communication regarding this matter was challenged due to involvement of legal counsel, and out of respect to all involved, we chose to not speak publicly about it.”

“We know this time period has been confusing for many, it’s been the same for us too,” Spafford revealed. “However, we still remain true to focusing on the future and are dedicated to bringing our music to the masses in 2025 with the current lineup in place.”

Fairless, who previously pointed to the serious car accident Spafford survived in March 2024 as impacting his decision to place a pause on touring, addressed the “Spafford Community and Beyond,” in his latest message regarding his status with the band.

Fairless’ message follows:

To the Spafford Community and Beyond,

I had always hoped to keep the legal/business issues that inevitably seem to surround virtually every band, at one point or another, out of the mix with you, so you could focus on Spafford’s music. Regrettably, Brian recently posted some statements about my relationship with the group that are not accurate.

As Brian knows from months of communications— I simply took a break from performing with Spafford. The hope was to see if that would help us resolve certain issues that had arisen regarding Brian’s and my relationship with the group. While I continue to pursue those efforts, I thought it was time for me to resume appearing with the group at live performances, and last week I advised Brian and the group of that fact and invited Brian to reach out to me to discuss the logistics and details of my return to performing.

While I was joyful at the thought of continuing the 16-year musical journey, Brian responded with his recent “announcement” that I supposedly had left the band.

Though I felt I owed it to all of you to clarify things, I really don’t want to drag Spafford’s fans further down this road, so for now I’ll say only this: I am a proud co-founder and member of Spafford, and I look forward to continuing in those roles.

With sincere thank for all of your years of loyalty and support for what we’ve built — together.

—Jordan

Moss also took a break from touring with Spafford in 2024 in the wake of the car accident. Guitarist Mike Gantzer stepped-in to perform with the band. (Fairless wrote about the accident in recent blog post).

Spafford’s current lineup is composed of Moss, Gordon, drummer Nick Tkachyk and keyboardist Cory Schechtman. Their next concert is scheduled for Thursday, April 3 at Soundcheck Studios in Pembroke, Massachusetts.