Meet Andrew Kasab | Musician, Harp Guitarist, Guitarist, Composer and Instructor.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrew Kasab and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrew, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
Being a full time musician is difficult and I believe in taking risks that are not along a typical career path. My first and most primary goal is not along the lines of profit margins or fame, it is really, “what do I need to do to satisfy my curiosities?” By that I mean, what is the creative and actual goals I am looking to achieve.

One of my prime focuses is to be true to what I do creatively and also to make that a success. The keys to that lie in making sure to have time in the day for imagination and to keep dreaming towards something. This can manifest in being playful with creative ideas and then stumbling into something fun. The other aspect I drive for is to let my career path take me places and experience different locations, regions and people. To me, it is not simply enough to create something, but to present it as honestly as I can with little compromise to an audience will almost 100 percent of the time generate a positive response.

In order to help ladder up through these risky creative ventures, I research and pull from information bases to determine where to find better demographics. It is a difficult thing to switch from being creative to the analytical, but from meeting so many people, I liken this to someone I met who said that statistical analytics is really more about figuring out a puzzle than looking at shear data.

I like the creative and analytical puzzles. Through better understanding of both of these, I keep changing my own risks and keep on an ever winding adventure that is always new.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Growing up with music, I read stories and interviews about seminal musical artists that has synthesized how I view creating and performing music. The artists I have used as templates for my own musical aspirations focused on merging and fusing several musical genres or styles while still retaining their own identity. I firmly believe that this is a great way to progress not just my own musical ideology, but an example of how artistic exploration can move forward through different eras.

Performing has also been a centerpiece of my career and I love to present my music to audiences in various types of venues that are sometimes the hidden gems. Whether it is a regional library, international resort, brewery, craft cocktail lounge or farmers market, it has never ceased to surprise me in how receptive audiences are. One of my greatest goals with performances is to offer a singular, unique performance that is not replicated again. I loved the artists who believe that every performance is of the moment creation, even if it means small changes in improvisation, tempo, tone or expression. It is also important to me to perform to the space and people that are in the moment. A library performance will be different that performing at a hot springs resort; a farmers market will be different that a winery and so I feel it is important to shift the music to the performance space.

I look forward to performing in new regions as well as continuing to revisit performance venues I have traveled to before. The biggest challenges with that are related to the ever shifting demographics and ability to travel to performance spaces that also shift with the times. I have learned that it is very tricky, but important to continue to find new venues and sometimes you can only stumble across them when you are there in person in a region instead of researching via the internet.

My unique legacy revolves around being able to fuse instrumental ideas incorporating several genres in original arrangements on instruments that are familiar and also unknown to the public at large. Harp Guitar and Baritone Guitar are relatively unknown acoustic guitars, even within most acoustic musician communities, while ukulele and steel string acoustic guitar and well known mainstream instruments. I think being able to present the familiar and unfamiliar in a positive way to audiences helps people experience something new, even if it on something recognizable.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
The Raleigh and Triangle area has a lot to offer. For food, there is a great amount of things to experience, whether it is Asian (Sushi Thai), vegetarian (Irregardless), BBQ (Q Shack) or just a burger (Mo Joes). Downtown Raleigh has some great places to walk around and discover, such as Father and Son for thifting, the NC Museum of art, the NC Museum of Science, the Greenways that go through a huge swath of the triangle or just hanging out by one of the many lakes in the region.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to thank Rob at Timberline Guitars, Danny Trent, Janet Nogura, Jaime Dupouis, Peppino D’Agostino and Tommy Emmanuel for helping to inspire me to keep learning and being a better listener and player.

Website: https://www.andrewkasab.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewkasab/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrewkasab

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrewkasab/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AndrewKasab