Article Contributed by June Jameson
Published on 2026-10-24
Andy Frasco, Kanika Moore, & Allie Kral
On the birthday of Grateful Dead Keyboardist Brent Mydland (Oct 21), Grateful Web caught up with fellow ivory slapper Andy Frasco for a tea-sipping conversation about the music, people, and experiences shaping his next chapter. Newly settled in New York, Frasco talks about finding his smile again, making room for women in the jam scene, and reconnecting with the pop-punk music that first inspired him. The conversation also turns to collaborations with Kanika Moore, Bertha: Grateful Drag, and Allie Kral, an unexpected call to sing with the Allman Brothers, and the personal loss that has prompted him to slow down and make space for grief. Through it all, Frasco returns to a familiar purpose: making music that brings people together and gives them a reason to smile.
June Jameson: Hi, Andy! I'm June Jameson from Grateful Web, and this is my fellow Grateful Weber, Jamie Huenefeld, aka Killahwave. She's also in New York.
Andy Frasco: What's up, guys? How are you doing? Oh, my God, it's a beautiful day here in New York. I'm like, holy shit! I'm wearing a beanie. I look like Sideshow Bob right now. I need a haircut, but it's all good. What's up, Jamie? How are you doing?
Jamie Huenefeld, AKA Killahwave: Good! How are you?
Andy: Good. Hold on, sorry. Let me get situated. All right, there you go. What's up?
June: I see you're taking a walk. Did ya grab some coffee?
Andy: I'm just taking a walk. I love it. I just moved to New York, and I'm trying to take advantage of the good days. I'm trying to be a little more present and not be on my phone, as I'm on my phone doing a podcast.
New York has been a big change in my life. I feel like I'm gaining my power back. I've been in Denver, and I've always just done things for other people. This is the first big move I've made for myself, and I feel like I'm getting my smile back.
Frasco’s new surroundings are one part of the story; the other is the creative restlessness that has kept him moving between styles, collaborators, and unexpected opportunities.
June: Good! That's awesome. Jamie just covered you at the Cap 100.
Andy: Oh, nice! What's up, Jamie? You heard me butcher David Bowie! Man, I was so nervous about that. Oh, my God, I butchered the fuck out of that thing. But I thought I did pretty well with “I've Never Been to Spain.”
Jamie: It was good! I thought you and Greg really matched up together. It was cute. You guys had a great thing going.
Andy: This motherfucker always wants me to do some crazy shit. He puts me in these outfits, and I can't say anything. I love the man, but I was very uncomfortable.
Jamie: Was it Greg's idea to dress up like that?
Andy: Of course it was Greg’s idea! I wear flannels, Jamie. I don't wear fucking David Bowie outfits.
Jamie: I thought it was one of the highlights. Even though you feel like you butchered it, I loved seeing you guys come out like that.
Andy: I love Greg. He always gets me out of my comfort zone. I'm very neurotic, even if I might not show it. He gets me to just do it and have fun with it. I'm like, okay, you're right, you're right.
June: Did Bertha: Grateful Drag try to get you to wear some outfits?
Andy: No, but I love them! Oh, my God, that was my first time hearing them. They rule! I want to get them to go on tour with me. I think it’d be a great pairing.
Jamie: They are so hot right now! They sold so many tickets to the Brooklyn Bowl 2 weeks ago
Andy: That's great! I’m so happy for them. It’s hard to get a win these days, am I right? They deserve a win. Internally, everywhere I look, ya know, on the news, everyone is sad. That’s why I’m out here walking the streets making sure there’s still hope. People are smiling. I try to walk around and look and say, hey! I appreciate you smiling
Jamie: I’m surprised you see people smiling in NYC.
Andy: I think they’re still high on that Knicks win
Jamie: True, true.
Andy: I came here at the right time. That’s another reason I think I’m here. Try to make em smile without getting punched in the mouth
June: You know who else was at the Cap 100?
Andy: Who?
Then June brings up Kanika Moore, and Andy lights right up. The two have a song coming, but what he says about writing it gets more personal than you might expect.
June: Kanika Moore!
Andy: That’s my girl right there! We’re about to put out a single together.
June: Oh THAT is sexy! I like that!
Andy: We wanted to write a country song where a black woman and a Jewish guy sing it for MAGA so we can tell MAGA to go fuck themselves. I love Kanika because she can do so many styles. I've been writing songs for all these country people lately. And I'm like, why don't we just write like a John Prine “In Spite of Ourselves” type of song where we just talk about our imperfections and that's what we love about each other. Everyone talks about the perfections in life. Well, let's talk about why we love our imperfect moments
June: You're already bringing up how many different genres you cover, but now I'm trying to picture you and Kanika, and you're talking about your imperfections. Is this like late night after a festival? Like, how did you come up with that?
Andy: It's more like, am I worthy to even be in her presence? The idea of, man, I'm a little chubby, I can't sing that good. You know, I got a good heart. But I'm not the greatest musician. She champions me. I'm thinking to myself like, damn, this woman really loves my imperfections. Then I realized, hey, maybe I'm not perfect, but I'm perfect for somebody. And that somebody is Kanika Moore. It made me feel; it gives me a little confidence. And it's likewise for her too, you know, she gets insecure being a woman in a jam scene. I want to hype her up, you know, and especially a Black Woman in the jam scene.
June: She serves it. She serves power to all of us in the audience. She is a queen!
Andy: I've never heard Grateful Dead songs like that! I am like, Kanika, you could literally do anything; it's so good. She's unbelievable. She gives me confidence. So I'm like, I want to write a song dedicated to the confidence you give me, Kanika. So that's what “Perfectly Yours” is.
June: I love it. Well, we were listening to Homesick. I'm picturing your mom. Your mom's like, Andy, when are you going to settle down, Andy? When are you going to give me some grandkids? And so you write this amazing love note, the EP Homesick for your mom, and then you go out and get super pregnant, Allie Kral, and bring her on tour. Then you have her and her fresh-out-of-the-toaster baby with you on tour. All so that you can say to your mom, look, I got babies! How was that?
Andy: That's my whole goal, dude. My whole goal is to bring estrogen into the scene. There's too much fucking bro energy. Like, you know, hey, we fucking play twenty-minute solos. I want some girls in there to start saying, yo, you guys smell, you know? So I got Allie in there. I mean, I'm just trying. I don't know, I'm just done with the frat boy party thing. You know, I'm 38 years old. I'm trying to grow a little bit. I was raised by women. I take my sisters' and my mom’s advice more personally. When a woman tells me what I'm doing wrong, I listen more easily. I wanted to bring more people like that into my life all day. So I don't feel like my shit stinks, you know? I want to keep growing. Just because we're on a wave right now and we're getting popular as a band, I don't want to smell. I don't want to smell myself. I want to keep getting better and keep growing. Allie can tell me, ‘Andy, you sounded like shit last night.’ Yes, ma'am. I will work on that. They're keeping me on the straight and narrow.
Then, Homesick. I'm an emo kid at heart. I love pop punk music. I never really listened to jam music. I was into New Found Glory, Bad Religion, NOFX. So I wanted to write a song for younger me. I've been doing this since I was nineteen. 200 straight shows; you forget about the younger person who started this whole thing. I wanted to make a record for him. He got me to where I am now. So don't forget who I was when I was a kid. It definitely has those emo feelings, but oh man, it's emotional. Some of my jam band fans are like, what the fuck is this? I can tell they just listen to Grateful Dead their whole life. It's fun.
June: They are purists!
Andy: I stopped caring about what people think. I used to keep me up at night. I just don't deal with it. I'm gonna do whatever I want, try to be a good person, take care of the people that take care of me, and not listen to riffraff.
‘Homesick’ reaches further back, to the kid who fell for music at Warped Tour and never quite let go of those pop-punk records.
June: So if I handed “Better at Bad Ideas” to a radio programmer, would they play it?
Northlands | Photo by Jamie Huenefeld / Killahwave
Andy: I hope so, but also that's just, you never know. I don't know, I really hope they do. I think it's a good song. I think it's a good hook. It's right there.
June: Yeah, it is! Sum 41, Blink-182, it’s totally that classic format
Andy: That's my thing, dude! That's what I was like, bro. The first time I ever went to a concert was Vans Warped Tour. I saw those bands. I'm like, oh my God, I want to do this. So now it's 23 years later. I was like, let's give him an homage to what grew me, you know? So hopefully they listen to it. We covered Wheatus, and the guy from Wheatus heard our cover of “Teenage Dirtbag,” and he messaged us, and he's like, I want to sit in with you guys and do that song! This is what the fuck I'm talking about. The dreams are all coming true. All my emo dreams are coming true!
June: I'm so happy for you
Andy: I mean, all those guys are my age, and they're all starting to have diabetes and shit. I gotta keep it going. I keep the dream alive with those guys, you know?
The conversation’s detour into pop-punk leads naturally to another reminder that musical ambition has no age limit: William Shatner’s theatrical turn onstage at Riot Fest.
June: I just covered Riot Fest with William Shatner, 95 years old, starting his metal band, William Shatner and the F*ckers.
Andy: Those records are so good
June: Oh, he totally rocket man’d his way through it. The band was ripping. He was spoken-word-ing it over the top.
Andy: That’s amazing. I love that. And he's got to be like 70 now, right?
June: He is 95 years old, Andy! He’s older than Willie!
Andy: If I could do that, that's my dream. If I could Shatner my way through life. That's fucking awesome. 95 years old just out here, just like, ‘And then the Willoughby came to the winter greens.’
June: You can do it!
Andy: I mean, I'll try, I'll try. I don't think I'll make it to 95, but hopefully I make it to 70
June: Oh, don't say that. Didn't you? I thought you were averaging like 300 shows per year at one point. You got stamina, that’s for sure
Cal Kehoe and Andy Frasco at the Cap 100 | Photo by Jamie Huenefeld / Killahwave
Behind the jokes and relentless touring schedule, however, Frasco has been navigating a much more difficult season. The death of his friend has changed how he thinks about work, time, and what he needs next.
Andy: I'm still doing 200, 250. But now I'm taking a hiatus. My best friend died a couple of months ago, and I was on tour through it, and it kind of woke me up, like I don't need to work my way through. I mean, I always just play on the road, and I'm starting to think about myself and taking five months off to make music and not just rush the music and really dive into it. And also just grieve.
I moved to a new city where no one knows me. I could just walk around and get through this death thing. I've never dealt with death before, and it kind of fucked me up. But playing those shows for the last four months through that has really opened my eyes. Yeah, people are actually good. You know, they'll help you. I've given out all this love to everyone for 20 years. And the minute I needed it, they were there for me.
June: Shout out to Berg! I’m from Chicago, and we love Berg. What a great guy!
Andy: Shout out to Berg. Shout out Polar Bear. That's our guy. So I'm gonna dedicate this record and tribute it to my guy. He always taught me work ethic, so I'm just going to keep going. I see him in my dreams. I see him now. He's listening. So it's all good
June: It's a wild ride because then you realize they're with you everywhere, all the time now. Even though they’re not physically present.
Andy: Also, you don't have to get stuck in this thing, what people expect out of you. That's just a fucking illusion. You can do whatever you want. It's your life, you know? So I don't know. I'm taking some time off. I'll be playing my first show next May, but wow. It’s been a lot.
Taking time off doesn’t mean the phone has stopped ringing. One call in particular caught Andy completely off guard: an invitation to sing with the Allman Brothers.
June: You're going to China, right?
Andy: I'm going to China. They asked us to play the F1 Grand Prix. And then, I'm on that Allman Brothers tour. They asked me to be the singer for the Allman Brothers debut.
June: That’s why the tour dates say “No U.N?”
Andy: Yeah. I couldn't believe I got the call. Devon Allman took me to a basketball game like something's up. Why? I thought you were going to ask me to go to rehab or something like that. What's up? He said, I want you to be the singer of this band. I'm like, are you? You got the wrong number. I'm like, no, I think you could do it. So I started really digging into the Allman Brothers. I'm like, Holy shit, these songs rule. It's about intention, you know?
June: I think you have a fantastic voice. It’s like Rod Stewart. I always said you are the Wilson Pickett of the jam scene.
Andy: Oh, thank you for saying that!
June: But then you just keep switching genres, and you put out some pop punk or, as you say, country now? It's all about the show, that is for sure
Andy: Catch me if you can! This is my thirteenth album I wrote. It’s crazy. I've been writing a record every year for 14 years. Fucking nuts. I'm getting old, dawg. I'm 38 years old. I'm like, what the fuck happened?
June: You're not that old.
Andy: My body feels old because I've just abused it.
June: What? 1987?
Andy: 1988, but I appreciate that. What else is going on? I'm just talking. Sorry. I feel like we're just chit-chatting over a cup of tea
From the Allman Brothers to his thirteenth album, Andy’s career keeps finding new paths. He is also looking back at the kid who started all this, and asking whether the life he built still feels like the dream.
June: Your Monday motivation: you said your 22-year-old self would punch you in the eye. What’s up with that? Why?
Andy: 22, oh my God. Well, I was fighting for a dream! Sometimes you forget what the dream is, you know? Then you're bitching over what type of hummus is in the green room. I'm like, how did I get here? And why do I? I'm glad I saw it before it could be a problem. What the fuck, this isn't the reason why I did this. Not for the hummus, not for the fucking partying. I did this for the music and to stay on track. So you gotta remind yourself of that.
June: That sounds like a Dolly Parton thing where they were all bitching because it was super hot while they were filming Steel Magnolias. And Julia Roberts says, Dolly, aren't you hot? And she goes, I worked really hard to be here. Shout out to Dolly! We love you, Dolly
Andy: That's it. Enjoy the heater. Okay, so shut the fuck up and let Dolly be Dolly. You know what I'm saying? I love that. Yeah. It's true. I worked hard to be here, and I'm not taking it for granted. A lot of people could belittle me and say that I was just a good entertainer, but I wrote good songs, and I'm proud of my songs, and I'm proud of what I brought to the community. And I'm finally owning it instead of vaguely believing it.
June: Did you get a dog?
Andy: No, I almost did. And everyone said no. I had to listen to them.
These days, growth seems to mean more than music. His reflections on growth spill into everyday life, from the books he’s reading to the political protests he admires and the possibility of trying things outside his usual routine.
June: JRAD has a dog
Andy: JRAD doesn’t travel as much as I do. My tour manager would be fucking pissed. He'd be like, what the fuck? I already babysit eight dogs. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll get one eventually. But I did get a book. I'm reading books now. French Love Poems. I'm trying to learn French. Ever since the revolution, that was so beautiful. Seeing all those people fight the system, dude, they're fighting the system in Pink Panther outfits! That was fucking rad. I'm like, America, you guys are soft as hell out here. The French are out here wearing Captain America fucking outfits and throwing fucking gas bombs at the police.
June: If you're doing more country music, are you going to do some Guthrie protest songs? What are you thinking?
Andy: I’ll leave that to Jesse Welles. I'll let him fight that fight.
June: That's what I got. I mean, you hit every subgenre, and now you've answered my question about country.
Andy: I love country. I love Americana. I love John Prine. I love Jesse Welles, fighting that good fight.
June: You gotta get in drag. You gotta get up with Bertha. I think that's a splendid idea.
Andy: I did that whole Bud Light thing, where I dressed up in drag and made a music video. We fought, you know, when Tennessee was going through that anti-drag thing. RuPaul dressed me up in drag.
June: Oh, so you’re an old pro already?! You already know how to do this
Andy: I’m an old hoe! Yes, that's me, Andy, the old hoe.
June: Oh ho ho ho ho! There's a stocking stuffer coming out November 20th!
Andy: Come on out! Tell everyone! Tell the world if they want to listen to me sing some country tunes with Kanika. I'm really proud of it. We really did it our way, you know?
Kanika Moore and Grace Bowers at Island Jam | Photo by Jamie Huenefeld / Killahwave
Country music is a part of the picture now, too. And with a new song alongside Kanika on the way, June wants to know what they’re planning to do with it.
June: Beyoncé is gonna recognize
Andy: I got my Beyoncé; her name is Kanika Moore.
For now, there’s no grand tour plan. Andy’s thinking about making videos, spending time with Kanika, and seeing what comes together.
Jamie: Are you going to go out and tour this new album with Kanika?
June: No! He is going on hiatus!
Andy: I'm going to try to get something going. We're going to put it out there and make some videos. I don't know, I'm just going to go over to her house, hang out with her and her kids, and kick it. Just be friends.
June: You could do a kids' dance party, like your old videos during the pandemic.
Andy: We're talking about doing that at Brooklyn Bowl now that I live here.
June: Oh, yeah! Jamie's a house photographer there. She'll be there.
Andy: I knew it! That's why I recognized you, Jamie. Now I know you.
Jamie: I definitely shot you there, like in 2019.
Andy: I remember!
As for Andy’s other creative projects, they can get a little stranger. Jamie asks about the Chewbacca video, and the story takes a turn that includes a beach day and a video concept that could only come from Frasco’s wild imagination.
Jamie: Yeah, that's pretty cool. Speaking of your videos, where did you get the idea for that recent one with Chewbacca? Where did that come from?
Andy: Everyone was calling me the king of Wooks. I'm like, damn, I'm a champion! I won the championship two years in a row online or something. Whatever the fans are trying to do to me, I'm like, all right, joke's on you. I'm going to put someone in a Chewbacca outfit, and I'm going to be his best friend. So we went out, did nitrous, smoked weed, walked around San Diego, took acid, went to the beach, and ran around together. It was fun as hell.
This guy in the Chewy suit was sweating his ass off. He had to wear that outfit for like six hours. He's asking, “Can we be done yet?” I'm like, “Whenever you want to be done.” But he didn't want to stop, so he took a little acid, and we stayed up another four hours. He just had some fun.
June: I bet he got more comfortable after that
Andy: The dude was so buff, too. He looked like a classic San Diego surfer bro.
Jamie: I couldn't last in that thing. I'd be dehydrated!
Allie Krall with Andy Frasco and the UN | Photo by Jamie Huenefeld / Killahwave
June: I think you're already pretty hairy. You don't need a suit, dude.
Jamie: Oh, my God!
Andy: I've got the carpet matching the drapes over here. It's crazy. I look at myself in the mirror and think, damn, I'm a hairy-ass motherfucker. At least I'm not hairy back there.
June: That is wild!
Andy: People comb that shit! I watched videos of people combing back hair. I'm like, wow. People are really into it. People are into my feet, too. I can't believe there are like 5,000 pictures of my feet on WikiFeet. My feet are gross as fuck, dude. My feet are nasty!
June: That's what really clinched the ‘Top Wook’ honors
Andy: All right, I'm not going to kink-shame. Do your thing, girl. But if I’m ever broke, I've got a future in foot fetishes. We're going to call it Only Frasco. Oh, yeah. We're making Only Frasco, but it's for live music.
June: That would cover all the genres. I wouldn't even know what to expect. I'd tune in just to see the freak show.
Underneath all the jokes, Andy takes the community around him seriously. He brings up Billy Strings, a friend who has shown him what it looks like to give back.
Andy: Billy Strings really inspires me. He's really good about being part of his community. I'm humbled that I get to call him a friend. He's a good man, and he's helped me. We wrote a song together. He's helped change my life, and he's always there for the community. I want to try to be a part of that in my own community.
June: You're only about five years older than him. You guys are the children of the scene. You're just little babies!
Andy: We've got to make an imprint. We've got to teach the younger kids to be intentional. It's not just about music. It's about connecting and being part of your fan base, making sure people feel appreciated for buying tickets on a Tuesday, you know? We're all in this together.
Andy Frasco at Pier 17 | Photo by Jamie Huenefeld / Killahwave
That care for the community has a harder side, too. June asks what Andy has seen backstage and in the crowd when someone crosses a line because community also means helping make shows safe for the people who attend them.
June: Random question, because you brought up Billy Strings. I'm curious about what your backstage perspective is like. Have you ever seen a guy creeping on a woman in the crowd? What did you do?
Andy: I mean, my fan base... there's some weird shit going on. I've seen people calling others out, and I'm like, damn, isn't that wild? My fan base is full of people who are on medication, depressed, or on mushrooms.
June: We're all on mushrooms.
Andy: But no, that's fucked up. If I saw that, I'd punch that fool in the fucking head. I don't fuck with people drugging other people. I don't fuck with that shit. You know that dude from the Billy Strings scene? The older guy with the robe? What did they call him, ‘the Chef’ or something? The Maestro?
June: Not sure, but something creepy, like ‘the Dentist’
Andy: The Maestro! I'm like, that's creepy as fuck. I'm not going to have my kids hanging out with the Maestro, you know? But seriously, I think it's fucked up, and I'm glad people are calling these people out. It's not right. This is supposed to be a safe space.
June: Your music is the happiest place on Earth. It's like a little Disneyland that comes to your town. When it does, you've got to go. You don't even have to be in a certain mood. You can go to an Andy Frasco show sober and leave feeling wasted. Your shows are such a happy place.
Andy: I appreciate you saying that. I'm just a laborer. I'm a soldier in this thing, fighting depression and the search for happiness. All of us in this scene - Billy, Kitchen Dwellers, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong - we're all in this together. We're trying to fight the good fight, keep people alive, and keep people happy.
After all that, we come back to where Andy started: the idea of music as a place of refuge. Andy is out for a walk in New York, trying to be present and get his smile back. For now, that seems like a good place to leave him.
June: I'm glad you're finding your smile again. That's wonderful.
Andy: Thank you. I'm going to go walk and read this French book. I don't even know what the fuck it means, but I'm going to get out there and enjoy the parks today.
June: Awesome! That's a good day.
Jamie: It's going to get really cold here soon, though.
Andy: Oh, my God, that's why I'm taking advantage of it! I saw it was 53 degrees, and I'm like, oh, God. That means it's practically 65 for me. This might be one of the last days.
Jamie: You've got a couple of weeks!
Andy: Yeah, probably. It's definitely a good day to enjoy. All right, buds, I've got to get to my next interview. Good talking to you!
June: Good talking to you, too.
Jamie: Nice talking to you, Andy!
Andy: Holla at me, Jamie. I'm in the city now, so if you're ever going to a show, I'll come out. We'll do rock and roll!
Jamie: Okay!
Andy: All right, ladies, be safe out there, and don't let the bastards get you down.
June and Jamie: Likewise! Amen. Bye! Have a great day.
