Andy Frasco is Stoked for WinterWonderGrass
02/20/2024 07:00AM ● By Casey Hopkins
(Photo: Andy Frasco will be performing at this years' WinterWonderGrass festival, Mar. 1-3, 2024. Courtesy of Stephanie Parsley.)
Steamboat Springs, CO - Anyone who's been to an Andy Frasco and the U.N. show will tell you it’s high energy and always a great time. For the first time this year Andy and his band are bringing their exciting performance to the main stage at WinterWonderGrass. Since 2007, the band has brought their positive and soulful music to fans around the world by touring constantly and releasing eight albums and even more singles. Steamboat Magazine recently got to chat with Andy about his upcoming visit and get a bit of insight on what makes him and his band tick.
Steamboat Magazine: You play Steamboat a few times a year, but this is your first WWG. Have you ever played a winter festival like this? What are you most stoked for?
Andy Frasco: I haven’t played in f-ing -10 degrees before! This will be my first time playing the outside sha-bang-a-bang you guys do every year. I’m most stoked to see how Shawn Eckels (Andy’s guitarist) is going to be able to rock and roll that shit in freezing cold weather.
SM: Do you guys have heaters or something?
AF: I have no idea, but all my friends [who’ve played WWG] looked freezing. But adrenaline is amazing dude. You really don’t feel that shit. We’re running around and stuff and we have high energy so we’re going to stay warm. I hope it snows dude. I’ve always wanted to play in the snow.
SM: It came down pretty hard during Greensky Bluegrass last year and it was pretty awesome.
AF: It just feels like an epic time to f-ing’ play. It feels like “Braveheart” or”‘Game of Thrones.”
SM: Your shows are pretty audience inclusive and WWG is a very unique festival to play. How does that influence how you curate your setlists, or do you just go with the flow?
AF: I’ll go with the flow. What I’ll curate is instead of having horn players sit in, I’m going to have more string instruments sit in, like I’ll have a Kyle Tuttle or Tenth Mountain Division or maybe get some violin action. I want to accommodate the festival. We're still going to do our thing and rock out, I just think the sit-ins are going to be a little different. I’ve got to hit up __________. (Ed. note: no spoilers here! You’ll have to see for yourself who he called on to join him). I’m going to accommodate the sit-ins more to fit that bluegrass feel. But we’re still going to try to do our thing. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Also, less cussing; probably won’t be eating mushrooms on stage. I’m still going to bring a rock show but I want to be appropriate to what WWG has done for the community. I’m going to throw a party but I’m going to accommodate the culture. It’s a beautiful thing for Steamboat and I take that very seriously.
SM: Who are you most excited to see and/or sit-in with?
AF: I’ve seen all these guys play hundreds of times because we all tour together but I’m more excited to hang out with them for a weekend because we never get to do that. Everyone’s playing two sets mostly, so I get to hang out with Daniel Donato for two days, I get to go kick it with the Kitchen Dwellers for a couple of days. Those are all close friends. We’re all so close to each other but because we’re in two different scenes we don’t really get to play the same festivals together. We’re just going to have fun, support each other and go to each other's shows, cheer each other on. That’s what I’m most excited about – the comradery. This scene and this community mean so much to me. I love bluegrass and I’m not really a bluegrass band so I don’t really get the opportunity to hang out with the Keller Williams of the world and The Keels and the Infamous Stringdusters and Kitchen Dwellers and Sierra Ferrell so it'll be nice to catch up and drink hot cocoa while we freeze.
SM: Planning on doing any skiing or hot springs while you’re in town?
AF: I want to do Strawberry Hot Springs. I love Steamboat. I live in Denver so anytime I can take a weekend I’ll come up and hang out with the Schmiggity’s crew and have a great time with them. I’ll probably go hit up the bars after we play. I usually only get to stay in town for one night but we’re there the whole weekend. I’ll be running around and just seeing Steamboat. It’s one of my favorite places.
SM: What are some of your other favorite venues to play in town?
AF: SnowBowl is super fun but we’ve played them all. Schmiggs, Old Town Pub…but I think SnowBowl is my favorite because it’s outside, you can bring your family. It helps me when I see kids in the audience – I don’t go as wild. I like playing outside. It feels like a festival setting but just one stage and everyone is happy and they’re bringing their dogs. It’s dope.
SM: I’m a big fan of your podcast (Andy Frasco’s World Saving Podcast). Any plans to record some episodes while you're here?
AF: I just did Kyle Tuttle, I’m going to do Lindsay Lou; I might do a hang with Sierra Ferrell. The problem is, I’ve already interviewed all of these people. I heard Sam Grisman is cool. I might try to get an interview with him. We’re doing this man on the street segment so I’m going to bring my co-host, Nick, and we’re going to interview the crazies of Steamboat and try to get some content.
SM: Anything else you’d like to add before I let you go?
AF: I’m just super excited to rock this thing. I’ve always wanted to do it. All my friends are on it. You’re in for a treat.
For more information on WinterWonderGrass this year, visit www.winterwondergrass.com.
Steamboat Springs, CO - Anyone who's been to an Andy Frasco and the U.N. show will tell you it’s high energy and always a great time. For the first time this year Andy and his band are bringing their exciting performance to the main stage at WinterWonderGrass. Since 2007, the band has brought their positive and soulful music to fans around the world by touring constantly and releasing eight albums and even more singles. Steamboat Magazine recently got to chat with Andy about his upcoming visit and get a bit of insight on what makes him and his band tick.
Steamboat Magazine: You play Steamboat a few times a year, but this is your first WWG. Have you ever played a winter festival like this? What are you most stoked for?
Andy Frasco: I haven’t played in f-ing -10 degrees before! This will be my first time playing the outside sha-bang-a-bang you guys do every year. I’m most stoked to see how Shawn Eckels (Andy’s guitarist) is going to be able to rock and roll that shit in freezing cold weather.
SM: Do you guys have heaters or something?
AF: I have no idea, but all my friends [who’ve played WWG] looked freezing. But adrenaline is amazing dude. You really don’t feel that shit. We’re running around and stuff and we have high energy so we’re going to stay warm. I hope it snows dude. I’ve always wanted to play in the snow.
SM: It came down pretty hard during Greensky Bluegrass last year and it was pretty awesome.
AF: It just feels like an epic time to f-ing’ play. It feels like “Braveheart” or”‘Game of Thrones.”
SM: Your shows are pretty audience inclusive and WWG is a very unique festival to play. How does that influence how you curate your setlists, or do you just go with the flow?
AF: I’ll go with the flow. What I’ll curate is instead of having horn players sit in, I’m going to have more string instruments sit in, like I’ll have a Kyle Tuttle or Tenth Mountain Division or maybe get some violin action. I want to accommodate the festival. We're still going to do our thing and rock out, I just think the sit-ins are going to be a little different. I’ve got to hit up __________. (Ed. note: no spoilers here! You’ll have to see for yourself who he called on to join him). I’m going to accommodate the sit-ins more to fit that bluegrass feel. But we’re still going to try to do our thing. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Also, less cussing; probably won’t be eating mushrooms on stage. I’m still going to bring a rock show but I want to be appropriate to what WWG has done for the community. I’m going to throw a party but I’m going to accommodate the culture. It’s a beautiful thing for Steamboat and I take that very seriously.
SM: Who are you most excited to see and/or sit-in with?
AF: I’ve seen all these guys play hundreds of times because we all tour together but I’m more excited to hang out with them for a weekend because we never get to do that. Everyone’s playing two sets mostly, so I get to hang out with Daniel Donato for two days, I get to go kick it with the Kitchen Dwellers for a couple of days. Those are all close friends. We’re all so close to each other but because we’re in two different scenes we don’t really get to play the same festivals together. We’re just going to have fun, support each other and go to each other's shows, cheer each other on. That’s what I’m most excited about – the comradery. This scene and this community mean so much to me. I love bluegrass and I’m not really a bluegrass band so I don’t really get the opportunity to hang out with the Keller Williams of the world and The Keels and the Infamous Stringdusters and Kitchen Dwellers and Sierra Ferrell so it'll be nice to catch up and drink hot cocoa while we freeze.
SM: Planning on doing any skiing or hot springs while you’re in town?
AF: I want to do Strawberry Hot Springs. I love Steamboat. I live in Denver so anytime I can take a weekend I’ll come up and hang out with the Schmiggity’s crew and have a great time with them. I’ll probably go hit up the bars after we play. I usually only get to stay in town for one night but we’re there the whole weekend. I’ll be running around and just seeing Steamboat. It’s one of my favorite places.
SM: What are some of your other favorite venues to play in town?
AF: SnowBowl is super fun but we’ve played them all. Schmiggs, Old Town Pub…but I think SnowBowl is my favorite because it’s outside, you can bring your family. It helps me when I see kids in the audience – I don’t go as wild. I like playing outside. It feels like a festival setting but just one stage and everyone is happy and they’re bringing their dogs. It’s dope.
SM: I’m a big fan of your podcast (Andy Frasco’s World Saving Podcast). Any plans to record some episodes while you're here?
AF: I just did Kyle Tuttle, I’m going to do Lindsay Lou; I might do a hang with Sierra Ferrell. The problem is, I’ve already interviewed all of these people. I heard Sam Grisman is cool. I might try to get an interview with him. We’re doing this man on the street segment so I’m going to bring my co-host, Nick, and we’re going to interview the crazies of Steamboat and try to get some content.
SM: Anything else you’d like to add before I let you go?
AF: I’m just super excited to rock this thing. I’ve always wanted to do it. All my friends are on it. You’re in for a treat.
For more information on WinterWonderGrass this year, visit www.winterwondergrass.com.