By Danny Gassaway
When people think of Andy Frasco & the U.N., they often think “party blues.” While those two words do describe Frasco and his band’s sound to a degree, they fall tremendously short. “Party blues” fails to mention a big-haired, barefooted man crowd surfing from the stage across the deck of a ship to a hot tub, chugging a beer, and crowd surfing back to the stage to finish the song, or the on-stage shotgunning, liquor pulling and instrument swapping the band is way too good at. “Party blues” also leaves out an eight-piece, horn-heavy rock and roll band, plus about 100 dancing kids, all on stage together, covering a Rage Against The Machine song. With Andy Frasco & the U.N., you get party blues, and a lot more.
Frasco visits Charlotte for shows Sunday at Heist Brewery and Monday at The Rail Yard. The piano player and singer, over a decade into his career, is working harder than ever. “I used to book myself for the first six years of my career, because I was the only one who believed in me,” said Frasco. Once he gained traction, however, the hard work continued. “I really look up to guys that have been grinding it out, that are making it through the ups and downs,” said Frasco. There’s grinding it out, then there’s grinding it out. Frasco has played roughly 250 shows a year for the last 10 years, which means just since 2008, he has played more shows than touring veterans Umphrey’s McGee and rock legends Aerosmith have in their entire careers. He’s played all over the U.S. and abroad. Last year, the band released a live album, Songs From The Road, which was recorded at a show in Germany. “It’s a passion and release for us, not work… I just need to stay on the road and with people. Otherwise I get bored,” Frasco said.
The latest boredom reliever for Frasco has been an ongoing podcast, “Andy Frasco’s World Saving Podcast with Yeti.” Frasco and his co-host discuss a wide range of topics, such as life on the road, festivals and embarrassing stories, before diving into an interview with a different musician each episode. Eric Krasno, Leftover Salmon’s Vince Herman, Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools and Portugal. The Man have all appeared as guests on the podcast. “People love music and musicians, but it’s not the glamorous life you’d imagine,” said Frasco. “I want people to hear the real stories about music and this industry.”
To listen to Frasco interview another artist is one thing, but to watch him and his band perform is something totally different. The man behind the microphone is one of the rowdiest frontmen in music. “At Wakarusa once, I crowd surfed about the length of an entire football field,” said Frasco. “I left our stage and made it to another one.” When he’s not crowd surfing or behind the keyboard, with his soulful singing and bouncy playing, he could be doing any number of what have become his signature moves, like sitting on a chair lifted in the air parading around the crowd while his bandmates play, “Hava Nagila.” Or pouring beer into his guitarist’s mouth during a solo. “We’re fucking crazy, dude,” said Frasco. “We recently had 100 kids on stage, all between 4 and 12 years old, and we’re playing ‘Killing In The Name.’”
When I asked Frasco what advice he would give a young musician, or perhaps one of those kids going nuts on stage at a recent show of his, he gave an answer that seems to have defined his career: “Stop living in your own head. If you want to do something, do it.”
If you want to book your own shows, no one’s stopping you. If you want to turn parents into fans, invite their kids on stage. If you want to crowd surf to a hot tub or a totally different festival stage, go for it. Just make sure you get back in time to finish the song. And chug a beer or two along the way.