Casey Abrams: Why You Should Stop Searching for Right Notes and Start Seeking Desirable Ones

As a part of this series, we had the pleasure to interview Casey Abrams.

Casey Abrams is a jazz vocalist, bassist and multi-instrumentalist who studied at Idyllwild Arts under legendary bassist Marshall Hawkins before gaining national attention as a Top 6 finalist on American Idol Season 10. Since then, he has built a wide-ranging career spanning jazz, pop and viral music, releasing Billboard-charting albums through Concord and Chesky Records and becoming a longtime performer with Postmodern Jukebox, whose videos featuring Abrams have amassed more than 100 million YouTube views. His credits include collaborations with Jack Black, Cyndi Lauper, Haley Reinhart, Aubrey Logan and Dave Koz, as well as an appearance on Taylor Eigsti’s GRAMMY-winning album Tree Falls. Following a residency at Hong Kong’s Café Carlyle, Abrams is now returning to his jazz roots with a new album produced by Davy Nathan and featuring Taylor Eigsti, David Longoria, Haley Reinhart, Charles Jones, Rebecca Jade, Nora Germain and Jacob Scesney.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit about your “origin story”. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I was born in Austin Texas to two awesome parents. They are in the film industry, my dad has an Emmy for a documentary show he made my mom is the screen writer and hosted a script writing competition

What inspired you to pursue a career in music, and how did your journey begin?

I remember when I was four years old driving around in Chicago, Illinois, we listened to oldies 104.3. I would hear the Beatles and the Beach boys and other 50s Classics and was hearing more than just the melody or the lyrics. I was hearing harmonies and singing them, along with the singers, and the instrumentalists. My parents got me a piano. I started playing the Pokémon theme song on the piano. I just loved all the sounds that I heard all around me. I was lucky to go to a great school that gave us recorders, those little flute instruments And we would play recitals. We would also do dances and sing for winter concerts. There are also some really cool xylophone’s laying around that we would play. It inspired me to just want to do it full-time.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

There were two of my favorite things when I was on American Idol. I played a jazz standard, and got a standing ovation. And I get to sing with Jack Black for the finale. I would say the most fun and interesting thing that happened to me after that was Jack Black Invited me to come sing and play the upright bass at the Catalina jazz club in Hollywood with his band, Tenacious D. It was a special jazz set, they had just released a 45 minute improvised, jazz solo album on vinyl, and they were promoting it live. He told me to come down and jam with him on stage. It was kind of the best of both worlds, scatting and playing upright bass with my favorite rock ’n’ roll band, Tenacious D.

It has been said that sometimes our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Haley Reinhart was on my season of American Idol and we have been collaborating ever since. She is also seeing a Beatles song with me on this album, #Jazz. Her dad, Harry Reinhart, is also playing guitar on it! I remember when I was on tour in Chicago, Haley’s parents had come to watch me perform at one of the theaters. I was planning on doing a bit where I would go to the bathroom and I would tell Harry to come up and play a song. I then would go to the back of the audience and sing at the top of my lungs from the back to surprise the audience, giving them a 4D experience. So Harry started playing and I ran out of the theatre from the stage door to the front entrance only to find the door was locked. No one was there, even the security people were in the room watching the show. I knocked and knocked frantically and no one came. I ran back to the stage door and it was locked too! I also didn’t have my cell phone. So I had to wait about 3 minutes until someone came and let me in. Harry had moved on to the 3rd song and apparently was sweating on stage the whole time. I have learned to inform the staff of what I might do in the heat of the moment.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

My Jazz mentor from Idyllwild, Marshall Hawkins. He played with Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Richie Cole back in the day and now teaches music at Idyllwild Arts Academy. I was his student for all four years and I learned not only the upright bass but jazz theory, piano, drums and how to stay positive. He made me use my ear so I could tell the difference between major and minor chords. He taught me that there are no right or wrong notes; just desirable and undesirable notes. He was a cheerleader rather than a drill sergeant when it came to teaching, which makes sense for an art form that is about showing your personality and having fun. My favorite moment was having him front row at American Idol when I performed “Nature Boy” to millions on television. I played a jazz song rather than a rock song of which the producers wanted. I was happy that the judge, Steven Tyler, turned around when I pointed to Marshall and Steven gave a nod of approval.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I have an album release party on October 17 at the Starlight Cabaret in Los Angeles. It’s a Celebrate my album coming out called “#Jazz”. I have been working on this new project and put up at the comedy store called “funny music” where I can get comedians to sing and musicians to tell jokes. It’s a very fun night. I’m also always excited to go on the Dave Koz and friends cruise that is going to Japan next year.

We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in music, film, and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

1. My Jazz mentor, Marshall Hawkins, told me in his class that jazz music is music that anyone can play. He doesn’t care if you’re black, white, brown, orange, or polkadot. Anyone can play this art form. I think it’s important to have diversity in music as well. I have a drummer that is from Bolivia and he has rhythms that he can play that are in his blood. I also have a clarinet player that was raised in synagogue, he brings a klezmer clarinet to the sound, which is beautiful. There’s something to be said about having different cultures in your band and in life. I think it’s important to see different perspectives from different walks of life.
2. I have a bunch of musicians that I use for my shows that are men. I have been using women instrumentalists more recently and I think that is first of all, fun to have that perspective on the music from a different gender. Second, It shows the girls in the audience that any dream they have is valid.
3. I love traveling the world, I think having diversity in music means you can meet anyone in the world and vibe with them. I went to Ethiopia and stayed there for a month and played a jazz festival there. I went to Scotland and played a rock ’n’ roll venue. I went to Dublin and played in an Irish pub. I went to Hong Kong and played a jazz club as well. You go to all these places and use the people that live there to perform with you. Not only does it make the music more genuine but you get to learn something about the culture in the music of the place that you are in.

As a successful music star, you’ve likely faced challenges along the way. How do you stay motivated? How do you overcome obstacles in your career?

I just know that in my heart this is the only way. Music makes me very happy and I cannot believe that I’ve made it into a career. I can’t believe that people want me to play for them. I sometimes even get paid for it. Even when I had surgery that took me out for a good year, I was listening to music and practicing it while I was laying in the hospital beds. I lost a lot of gigs during this time, but I just knew that it’s still my calling, so I quit drinking and became Silver to better myself, and that Not only helped me with my music, but help me become a better person.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why? Please share a story or example for each.

1. Get a ROTH IRA. It’s never too early to start saving.

2. Post consistently. Whether it’s every day, every week or two times a month or even every month. Do something to keep all the people knowing you exist.

3. Don’t smoke and don’t drink alcohol. That stuff will make your voice hit less high notes.

4. Perfectionism is the killer of creativity. Just put up more things.

5. Do your exercises.

Can you share some insights into your creative process? How do you approach songwriting? How do you approach musical collaborations?

When it comes to songwriting, I usually start with a melody or a harmony. Or even a Beat. And then I start singing with it. Sometimes that turns into lyrics. Sometimes the words that come out of my mouth sound like “eating mangoes in a mango tree”. It depends on who I’m working with. When I was working with Davy Nathan on this album, I started singing about pizza, he said keep going with that, and we wrote a whole song about it. I find that writing songs that just come from the heart rather than going in with an actual objective is always the best song. Writing songs with someone is like being in a relationship. You have to give and take a couple of things.

Your music has resonated with so many fans worldwide. What do you believe sets your music apart? How do you connect with your audience?

I believe that my music has a sense of authenticity. I don’t like to autotune all the notes, I like to have it like you’re in the room with me. I like when people hear all the cracks and crevices of my voice. Rather than trying to hit all the perfect notes, I hit the fun ones. I would like to also think that I’m kind of a funny guy and I like to put humor into a lot of my songs. I like to take myself serious as a musician but not seriously as a person. I also have the upright bass And that gives the music a little bit of umph.

Obviously, I love social media, but if people come to my life show, I love coming out into the audience and meeting them. Also, when I play my shows, I love being on the stage but I love making the show a 40 experience. I might just pop up behind you and sing you in your ear

With your busy schedule and demanding performances, how do you prioritize self-care and maintain a balance between your personal life and career in the music industry?

I think it’s important to work hard and it’s very important to play hard as well. I would also like to add that it’s nice to relax hard. I love playing video games. VR headset or Nintendo switch. I liked to get away from the real world and just turn my mind off. I like having my private time, but I also love going out into the world and socializing. I think that when I’m out in the world, the same person you see on the stage is the same person off of it.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

To be fair, I have this project that I like to do called “Orchestra of People”. It’s where a bunch of my friends gather around the fire pit and we all harmonize together. We do one of my songs and I teach the harmonies beforehand. Sometimes it’s a three part harmony. Sometimes it’s a forte for harmony and sometimes it’s five parts. But even though it feels like it’s selfish for me, everyone comes up to me and says that they had such a good time providing harmonies with other people. I think if we did that more often we could end a lot of bad things in the world.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

I would like to have a private breakfast with Paul McCartney. I would drink and eat whatever he wanted. I figured tea would be in there. He is in my favorite band, he is my favorite member of that band. He is also a fellow bass player. I would love to get inside his mind and see what type of music is going on in there. He also just seems like such a chilled out person. I was on his record label, Concord, in 2012. I wish I had an opportunity to see him. I know it will happen :)

How can our readers continue to follow your work online?

They can follow me a CaseyBassy.com I put my tour dates up there. I’m aslo @caseybassy on Instagram, Tik Tok, Youtube and Twitter. And @Iamcaseyabrams on Facebook.

Thank you so much for the time, and for all your great insights!

About The Interviewer: Tavares Beverly ( www.tavaresbeverly.com ) is the Founder and CEO of Beverly Boy Productions, a national video production company that has helped organizations tell their stories through video for more than two decades. Over the course of his career, he has worked with everyone from Fortune 500 executives and healthcare professionals to politicians, nonprofit leaders, educators, and artists, gaining a unique perspective on the role communication plays in leadership, business, and human connection. A frequent contributor on topics including communication, entrepreneurship, leadership, and personal development, Tavares believes that the ability to communicate effectively is one of the most valuable skills a person can develop. His work is driven by a passion for helping organizations connect with their audiences and helping individuals unlock their potential through mentorship, perseverance, and meaningful relationships. To learn more, connect with Tavares on LinkedIn or visit www.BeverlyBoy.com . If you’re interested in using the power of storytelling and communication to grow your organization, strengthen your brand, or inspire your audience, he welcomes the opportunity to connect.