When I first started thinking about 'Townie', I had an idea to write a song about every member of the band. I was going to write one for Adam, one for Russ, and then I realized that I would have to write a song about my brother, Casey. My stomach instantly went into knots. It scared me so much-- not only because distilling our entire relationship into a single song seemed so daunting, but also because knew that I'd have to talk very candidly about a pretty big elephant in the room.
Casey is blind. He was born blind due to a genetic disorder called Senior-Løken syndrome. It's public knowledge but I still get uncomfortable talking about Casey's disability because I don't want it to seem like that's the only defining thing about him or about our relationship. But it would be dishonest to act like it isn't.
I've helped my brother navigate through the world my whole life. He uses a cane, and I'm often also guiding him by the shoulder. But I can't tell you the number of times I've had both of my arms full of guitars and amps, Casey's got a keyboard strapped to his back, another keyboard in one hand and his cane in the other; and I've had to guide him through a dark dingy venue simply by yelling at him-- "A little to the right-- stop! Just to the left-- no, your other left-- Okay, over here, I'm right here." Just a voice in the dark, reaching out.
Casey is a fiercely independent person. He hates having to rely on anyone. But he is often forced to. I absolutely love being able to help and to heroically set my needs aside for anyone... So as you can imagine this dynamic has created some tension. But as far as co-dependent relationships go (lol), I think ours has blossomed into a pretty healthy one.
When I finally sat down to write this song, it ended up being very easy. Because despite how complicated it is in my own mind, objectively it's very simple: we love each other a lot.
Casey— being your brother has been the greatest gift I could've ever asked for. And for all the times I’ve used you to skip to the front of the line at the airport, I’ll love you forever.
X Ambassadors - Follow the Sound of My Voice (Official Performance Video)
Ahead of October's National Disability Awareness Month and the next X Ambassadors album, The Beautiful Liar, Casey Harris chronicles his jou
X Ambassadors Keyboardist Casey Harris On New Album 'The Beautiful Liar,' Creating Music In The New Norm & Making Music Tech Accessible For All
PHOTO: TYLER JAY HANSON
Ahead of October's National Disability Awareness Month and the next X Ambassadors album, 'The Beautiful Liar,' Casey Harris chronicles his journey as an artist with visual impairment and the bold new projects XA will be dropping this fall
JESS PICKETT
GRAMMYS AUG 17, 2021 - 11:51 AM
Casey Harris is one third of the alt-rock trio X Ambassadors, a band he formed with his brother and lead vocalist, Sam Harris. He's also been legally blind since birth.
In the band, Harris plays keyboards, but the lifelong musician also plays a fundamental role in their songwriting, producing and engineering. At times, he even provides the primary motivation for the direction XA takes with their projects.
That's no exception when it comes to their third full-length album, The Beautiful Liar, which will be released September 24th. In tribute to the sci-fi and fantasy audio dramas the brothers listened to growing up, The Beautiful Liar tells the story of Clementine, a blind teenager who struggles with anxiety, discovers her long-dormant superpowers and, eventually, attains self-acceptance.
The band also took songwriting inspiration from the state of the world during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the political unrest that unfolded in the U.S. under Trump's presidency, having to face an unpredictable future for their own careers as musicians and the entertainment industry overall.
We connected with Harris to learn more about X Ambassadors' creative process during the pandemic, pushing for inclusivity in the music industry and the satellite projects of The Beautiful Liar.
Casey Harris. Photo: Tyler Jay Hanson
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
How have you been managing throughout the last year and change during one of the most difficult times in our history?
Yeah, I'm doing pretty good. I'm just sort of adjusting to not knowing things yet again. I mean it's crazy, you know, obviously everyone's dealing with this whole Delta variant and the lack of information on anything and everything, but [I'm] just trying to handle being safe with that.
Obviously, we're trying to get back to business, trying to get back to playing music, and that sort of thing, so it's a juggling act. It's been a while, too, because it's pretty much just been within this last month that we've suddenly kicked it back into gear. So, it's kind of zero to 100, but it's really, really been nice to rehearse and play music together again. I've forgotten how much I love doing that. It's really been great.
Despite that XA created and released several projects. What was it like going through the creative process during a global pandemic and political turmoil? Sam has said that was the inspiration for some of the songs on the new album.
Yeah very much so. Both [our multi-part, collaborative series] (Eg) and the EP were largely material that we were lucky enough to have recorded right before the pandemic hit—like, months to weeks beforehand.
And then, we all three know how to produce music, at least fairly well on our computers. Probably not me quite as well as, say, Adam, but we're all at least good enough that we can record ideas and cool-sounding parts and send them back and forth to each other and build a song out of it.
So we did a lot of that, taking the foundations of what we started before the pandemic and just doing that remotely. There have been technological ways to work around it, and to listen to what each other is doing. But it's still not that real time. It's not in the same room, seeing each other, so it's been a lot of adjusting there.
Honestly, that was so very much our writing style to have everyone in the room together. But yeah, we adapted it. I think for all of us, if anything it improved our skills as producers and as audio engineers and that kind of thing, which is probably something I needed to brush up on anyways, but yeah, we've been fairly productive I'd say over the last year, surprisingly so considering everything.
I think it's just because it's an outlet. When you're feeling trapped, claustrophobic, like the world is a dangerous, threatening place, at least you can go write music, go play music, and it makes you feel at least somewhat better. It helps you escape that for a minute.
I think that's one of the reasons why no matter what we're all three always making music. [Those technologies] made it at least possible to keep putting out material and keep putting material together.
This new album was phone calls and ironing out the details, and again, sending tracks back and forth for final production notes. Just a lot of back and forth. A lot of it was very much shaped by how kind of crazy and unpredictable and unknown everything was and that's very much how this album goes.
And the fact that everything just felt so bleak. This album, there's some hopeful moments on it, but a lot of it is kind of not bleak, but it very much does not shy away from the darkness of everything, of life, of love, of everything we've all been going through.
I think it's very representative of where we've all been over the past year-plus.
It seems like the inspiration behind this most recent body of work comes from some of your experiences growing up as a blind person. How do you translate your personal experiences into music and visual art? There's a companion podcast with this latest release. Tell me how that came about.
It varies so much. The songwriting always comes before any of the stuff surrounding it. But I think a lot of the time, the songwriting draws on some themes that me and my brother in particular have experienced throughout our lives.
[The Beautiful Liar companion] podcast and the whole theme of this girl with superpowers—me and my brother, ever since we were little, have been obsessed with superheroes and Marvel and all that. It's been kind of a lifelong thing.
We've always wanted to make our own comic series or something like that. I obviously have been more of an audio books and podcast kind of person, so it wasn't one of those "ah-ha" moments. It was a no-brainer moment when we thought, "Oh why don't we make a podcast that's like a comic book?"
The story just organically came together. I mean we knew we wanted it to be about someone who was blind, a blind character, mainly because no one has really done that since Daredevil. We wanted it to be sort of a coming of age story, something very personal and very relatable, but also have this superhero element to it.
A lot of the story just came from the songs. We didn't necessarily have the story in mind while we were writing the songs. But when you listen to them in a certain order, they string together and they tell a natural story.
It's really a story of, I guess when you come right down to it, trust, betrayal, and finding out who you can and cannot trust, and who really does care about you. Also, finding out what harm, unfortunately, people who do care about you but make the wrong choices can do.
A lot of it is a story about self-discovery and discovery about where you fit in the world. I'm really proud of it. It's been a long, arduous process getting it together, but we finally started recording. We're actually getting actors' voices on audio files now, so it's really exciting.
It's a separate piece from the album but it's a companion piece, it uses the songs from the album throughout as a soundtrack and as part of the storyline as well. We're still working on plans of how we want to release it, but it will be available on all major streaming platforms. It'll be a way to deepen people's understanding of the album and the stories behind it between the songs. It's really coming together and I'm excited for the world to hear it.
It seems like you guys really got your creative juices flowing during the pandemic and that you were able to find ways to pursue projects that you'd maybe dreamt of doing but previously didn't have the time to do.
If anything, the pandemic has forced us all to spend more time focused on our personal and private lives. In a weird way, especially when it comes to music, I think spending some time with your nose not to the grindstone somehow results in more creative, more inspired material.
We're just around the corner from National Disability Awareness Month. How do you think being an artist with accessibility needs has shaped and impacted your experience in the music industry?
It sounds funny to say, but oddly, it wasn't quite as much of an issue in the olden days. Back when we were just a band slugging it out on the road, I would schlep my keyboards around. Obviously there were challenges like finding my way around venues and that sort of thing, but we all made do.
One thing I really started to discover during the pandemic is how inaccessible a lot of audio recording and production tools are for blind and visually impaired people in particular. Because, ironically enough, it's all incredibly visual. Even though you're ostensibly doing something with an auditory medium, the way the programs and most audio tools are laid out is extremely visualized.
A few months back, I did an interview with Vision Australia Radio. Afterward, one of the hosts asked me what my tips and tricks and techniques were for editing audio and audio processing on the computer when you can't really see very well. We had a whole back-and-forth discussion.
That's unfortunately become one of my biggest gripes with, I suppose, the music industry, but the music tech industry in particular. I've actually been throwing around the idea of trying to team up with a software company to try to address this.
It really is crazy how difficult it is to do professional audio production and editing when you're visually impaired.
Do you have any suggestions for companies who are trying to lead the charge in making the industry more inclusive? It sounds like a good place to start would be organizing and leading conversations with music tech industry executives about the current limitations on their tools and how that's impacting creators with disabilities.
Absolutely. I know that with current technology, it's very possible and very doable. It just takes the motivation and having those conversations and getting those people to actually pay some attention and focus coding on these issues. So, yeah, I think that's a good place to start.
The Beautiful Liar tour this fall is said to feature a "multi-sensory live show." What can fans expect to experience at one of these shows?
Unfortunately, right now, I can't give any specifics. First, because I don't want to give anything away, but also with the Delta variant, tour planning is very much in flux right now.
We have started to do rehearsals to prepare for it. We've always toyed with this idea as a band to have dramatic sets, in the sense of where it's almost kind of like a Broadway show with different sections and themes and vibes to it. I think that's even more the case this time.
For instance, we're going to have two separate sections to the set. The first section will be the brighter—not necessarily more optimistic—but the brighter more upbeat section, and lighting and music will all reflect that.
And as the story progresses, we'll get to the second half of the set where the lighting and the vibe and the music will all change. That half is focused more on the shadow and the slightly more sinister side of the album and the story.
It's going to be a whole journey. I can't wait to play this tour. You'll walk out of there feeling like you've taken a trip.
Any last thoughts you'd like to share with readers?
Stay tuned for upcoming releases. We've got songs coming out. We've got so many songs we've been sitting on, just waiting for proper music videos and other material like that to go with them and we're finishing all that up right now. So, be prepared!
Ithaca, NY, May 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The sixth annual Giving is Gorges, a community-wide fundraising event supporting nonprofits in Tompkins...
Ithaca, NY, May 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The sixth annual Giving is Gorges, a community-wide fundraising event supporting nonprofits in Tompkins County, will take place on May 20, 2020, at GivingisGorges.org. Giving is Gorges unites community members around essential causes, provides support to local nonprofit organizations, and celebrates the spirit of philanthropy in Tompkins County and surrounding areas.
“Tompkins County is a tight-knit community that is incredibly supportive of one another. Our local nonprofits work tirelessly to provide essential services, fill needs, and enrich our lives. Giving is Gorges is an opportunity to not only highlight and celebrate our local nonprofits but to facilitate and encourage community involvement and support. We are all in this together, and the more we can support each other during this time, the better we will all be for it.” - Karin Edsall, Project Manager for Giving is Gorges.
This event is hosted and organized by GiveGab, a local technology company in Ithaca powering hundreds of Giving Days nationwide.
A special live stream event open to the public will take place at 5:00 PM EST on May 20 co-hosted by the project manager of Giving is Gorges, Karin Edsall, with special guests, Mayor of Ithaca, Svante Myrick, and member of the X Ambassadors, Casey Harris.
"I was very lucky to grow up in the community of Ithaca... I've appreciated so much everything that Ithaca has done for me and the band in more recent times too. Putting on the Cayuga Sound festival two years in a row was an amazing experience that I would love to do again when circumstances allow. I am proud and happy to help out my home town in any way I can!" - Casey Harris, member of the X Ambassadors.
If you are interested in joining this giving movement happening on May 20, 2020, visit GivingisGorges.org.
[Image Descriptions: 1) little Casey is dressed as a bumblebee at Hallowe'en. 2) young Casey at the piano. 3) teenaged Casey with long hair sits with a serious expression in profile. 4) Casey, wearing sunglasses and holding his mobility cane, stands in front of a fence and greenery. 5) Casey, with his cane, is guided backstage by his brother, Sam. 6) Casey, wearing a black leather jacket, smiles onstage standing at his Nord keyboards. 7) Casey plays an upright piano in studio. 8) Dad Casey holds son John and laughs joyfully as John stares at the camera lens. 9) B&W photo of Casey in black leather jacket, sunglasses, a black t-shirt, and holding his white cane and smiling. 10) Olivia in an off-the-shoulder white pin-tucked top and Casey in a black shirt and yellow jacket looking fine and fancy together❤️
[Image description: Casey and the author stand arm and arm posing for the camera. They both wear zip-up jackets and Casey wears black sunglasses and holds his mobility cane.]
A Vision for the Future - Part Two: Interview with Casey Harris of X Ambassadors
2019-11-27 | Kevin McCloskey
In our line of business we hear a common rejection when pursing potential employer clients – “people with disabilities can’t do our jobs.” No joke. More times than I wish to hear. Stigma is a relevant fear among employers looking to find the best talent for their business needs. On the heels of October, National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) I had the pleasure of sitting down with Casey Harris. He has been visually impaired since birth, and I had the opportunity of watching him do his job as the keyboardist of the rock/pop band X Ambassadors.
Last year I talked to Casey about his journey from a visually impaired childhood in Ithaca, NY to playing in front of sold-out arenas and collaborating with the likes of Eminem and Imagine Dragons. A year later, Casey has a newborn baby, a brand new album with a tour and he gave me the opportunity to sit down with him during his work day.
For most, and especially me (sorry, boss) being a rock star sounds like the greatest job ever, so I asked Casey to tell me about his day to day activities. “It's a dream job now. It definitely wasn't. You really had to love it in order to keep doing it. Now though, the day to day, it's fairly routine. On tour we get a full night's sleep on the bus and wake up in whatever the next city that we're in. We have about an hour or so to shower and have coffee then grab a bite to eat. Then it’s usually off to a radio station or two to do some interviews, and sometimes an acoustic performance. Meet some folks, all that good stuff. Then between 2 or 3 we’re at the venue for sound check, which is usually pretty easy,” Casey explains. Of course every work day comes with some hurdles, “People think rock and roll is all just drinking and partying. It's a lot of work. After that I do any emailing or that sort of thing - basically trying not to get frustrated that something on my computer is not working, or someone sent me an email that I don't really want to deal with. That's the time when, after the doors are open, after all of our initial responsibilities for the day are out of the way it's pretty much just getting ready for the show. Sometimes we find out we have to perform an acoustic song the one day and have to learn an entirely new song the next. So there's always moments, the occasional moments of stress. It'll be usually after we do the main soundtrack, Sam and I will stay on stage, and we'll work out the piano and vocal version of some new song. We did that yesterday with a really beautiful Chris Stapleton song called "Either Way," that we did today as an acoustic. Then we play the show and that's always the highlight of the night. After the post show it's shower, grub, and usually... I’ve honestly been trying to go to bed at reasonable hour and yet still end up in bed by 1:30 or 2:00. It's just the tour life. When you play around 10:00 each night, by the time you're done with all the post show routine, it's late. So it's late to bed and late to rise but otherwise it's a pretty stable and an easy routine.”
On the road it can be tough to find downtime for yourself much like the drive home from work to unwind or hitting the couch to binge watch some Netflix. “We've got a little bit of time to ourselves. I will Skype my wife and my son and have dinner in there somewhere, but then it is back to work. “We do our VIP experience, where we meet everybody. That's always really cool actually. It's really... one of the biggest rewards, honestly, doing music and having people listening to your music is talking to them and hearing how much it means to them, and hearing their various stories and such.
Casey and his bandmates are amazingly optimistic, high spirited and overall down to earth guys, but there has to be something that gets on their nerves. I’ve watched a lot of interviews with the band where they asked generic questions, some even borderline inappropriate towards Casey’s visual impairment. So what bothers Casey? “I obviously won't name any names, but there have been occasional interviews where we get these guys, I guess, I don't know if it's but they feel they are obligated to ask the hard questions and whatnot. But it's not even that they ask the tough questions. Especially these two guys I think of in particular. One asked us how it felt to know that our band would always be known for "Renegades." And that's a question that any person should realize that obviously implies that you'll never do anything bigger than "Renegades". Like we love "Renegades", it was our first hit, but we're still playing and making music. And it's true. That's the same with "Renegades" and "Unsteady", is those are what are allow us to keep touring. But we don't want to sit on our laurels and be like, oh okay, those were our biggest songs, we can just write pretty much anything now and we'll be fine. In January, we’re going back into the studio again, hopefully to release something next year. And we're constantly trying to write a better songs and better songs, hopefully we'll connect with people and someday, who knows, might have another "Renegades" level hit, fingers crossed.”
When it comes to questions about Casey’s visual impairment he explains that it’s not something that went away or got easier with success and in no way is he looking for charity. “I get the sense a lot when people are asking me about my visual impairment that they want to hear a story of, "oh, how hard it was" and "oh, but I overcame" and I'd say a sad story, but it is not sad. The great reality of it was, I had lots of great people around me growing up. There were definitely troubles, especially during my early adulthood after moving to New York City. I had a lot of rough times. But overall it's I don't have a beautiful Disney story arc of like, "Oh, you know, I was struggling as a visually impaired kid, but then I found the band and suddenly everything was okay.” It's just being visually impaired it's never like there's one big challenge you have to overcome. It’s a million tiny little day to day challenges that don't make it a very good story. But interviewers always want that sort of rags to riches sob story, about how hard it is to be visually impaired and that sort of thing. There's a lot of hard things about it, but it's not the hardest thing I've dealt with in my life, you know.”
Casey shares the stage each night with a talented, soulful and passionate singer, who is also his brother Sam. If you’ve seen their music videos or watched them before you’ll see their love and connection for one another. Sam acts as Casey’s right-hand man if needed and is very protective. With most co-workers sometimes you disagree with an approach or project. I had to ask what they argue about. “Oh, everything. Everything. It's music obviously and we're in a band together and bands argue all the time. It'll be just simple things like order of set list, or how long we should wait before going on for encore, that kind of thing. Honestly we haven't had any real arguments about, something really life changing in a while. I think we found, obviously, we both know how to push each other's buttons and how to really get under each other's skin. So we've found a way to avoid for the most part, doing that and to live, fairly conveniently with each other. I still have no idea how we've managed to do that. But somehow we've managed to find a sort of piece in the equilibrium that, most of the arguments we have are just about, little details and you know, no matter, which of us wins the argument, it's nothing to where you can't just brush your shoulders off afterward. You keep on, going. You know?”
Whether on the road, in a warehouse or in an office, work is work and it is good to be employed. “Some cities are easier than others, and some shows are better than others, obviously, but for the most part, it’s predictable in a lot of ways. The fact that I sort of know the ins and outs of what's involved and what is needed really makes it more than anything else, it makes it a lot easier to do this job than what it used to be. If we had to go back to that again, I'd still keep playing music.”
Although Casey has found success in music I asked if he was still pursuing his dream job as an astronaut. “Aww man, because I didn't realize that I could! I could actually try in school and get good grades. I was so focused on being a rebel back when I was a teen. My career was the furthest thing from my mind back in my late high school days. Science has always been a fascination to me and space especially as always been, I'd say my biggest hobby, is reading abo. I didn't even consider a career. I regret this. I'm trying not to push my own son into anything in particular, he can be and do whatever he wants to be and do. He does have a little stuffed space shuttle that he chews on all the time, so I'm trying to suddenly drop the hints there, you know? My space hobby has always been sort of private and suddenly this year it's like the world suddenly found out. I've been inducted into the Space Camp Hall of Fame, toured the Kennedy Space Center, I now personally know a few people from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Chief Astronaut Instructor at Virgin Galactic. It's really crazy. I always say I love my family and I love music and I love space. This year has been for the third…to suddenly come and hit me full in the face. It's been, it's been a wild ride, man. It's been amazing.”
No, not all people with disabilities may be able to do your jobs, but the right person with a disability can do your jobs because disabilities cross race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran. The right person with a disability might be fresh out of high school or a baby boomer with years of experience and multiple degrees, who’s aged into a disability to every human in between. You may not even know a person with a disability has a disability and you most likely have someone working for you right now. As I stood in the back of Terminal 5 in New York City wrapping up a month where we help celebrate the employment of talent with disabilities I was front row rockin out to a successful band with a keyboardist who is visually impaired. The crowd was swaying back and forth with their hands up simply enjoying a talented individual doing his job.
You know their song "Renegades," now hear X Ambassadors' Casey Harris on how being legally blind since birth hasn't stopped him from creatin
You know their song "Renegades," now hear X Ambassadors' Casey Harris on how being legally blind since birth hasn't stopped him from creating & performing music in sold-out arenas around the world. Hear Casey’s story and why Simplicity is a Life is Good Superpower. X Ambassadors new album, Orion is available now.
Casey Harris is the keyboardist and founding member of X Ambassadors. He's also visually impaired. In this #MyBlindStory, find out how he we
On Me
January 8, 2020 - By Casey Harris
[Image Description: Casey Harris stands in front of a wooden fence surrounded by greenery. He's wearing red, dark glasses and holding his mobility cane in his hand while looking confidently at the camera.]
There has always music in my life, for as long as I can remember.
Mom was a professional singer, and dad was an avid vinyl collector who was always making us mix tapes of his favorite songs. Between the two of them, and the piano and guitars we had at the house, I became a musician without really even being aware of it. I admit though, I never expected to play music professionally when I grew up.
I’ve been visually impaired/legally blind since birth, but my parents didn’t realize until I was around three. This kind of says it all when it comes to how much vision I have.
I am in that awkward category of “not quite blind, but not really sighted either,” and that can be confusing for a lot of people. I can, for instance, see a face, but not be able to read the expression on that face, so in some ways I’ve got a foot in each world.
School was an on and off challenge for me, not necessarily because I’m blind, thought that definite was a contributing factor. I wouldn’t say I was a rebellious kid, but I definitely hated doing things I thought were pointless, and I had a thing for defying authority.
However, school was really where I discovered, or really rediscovered my love for music. I’d played piano by myself, or at most with a singer, but hadn’t ever jammed with another musician up to that point.
Anyone who has played music with others knows the indescribable joy and connection you get when everything clicks and you are in wordless sync with each other.
X Ambassadors – the Early Years
My brother and I started really playing music together in high school, and we came to it kind of grudgingly. Sam had formed his own band in middle school, and I had been playing with any and every band I could, so I’d been jamming with the guys from his band, playing some keys on their recordings, etc.
My brother and I could fight like demons, but we were also very close, and while we both wanted to do our own thing, the music was just sounding too good to deny. Long story short, we started the band.
Now everyone knows that all struggling musicians need a day job, and I understood this at the tender age of 18. I was also becoming aware of how few jobs there were that a person of my visual persuasion could do.
All the good attitude and determination in the world was not going to allow me to bus tables in a tiny New York restaurant, or be a bicycle courier.
Somehow, I stumbled upon the idea of being a piano tuner, and it checked all the boxes for me. I was lucky enough to get a scholarship from the National Federation for the Blind to go to Emil Fries’ School of Piano Tuning and Technology, where I attended for two years, learning everything I could about pianos. Armed with these skills, I took a breath and dove into NYC.
New York City is an amazing place, filled with more opportunities and possibilities than you can count, but it is also a nightmare to navigate as a blind person. The fast pace, the cramped and obstacle-strewn sidewalks, and most pedestrians don’t look where they’re going, expecting others to get out of their way.
All in all, definitely a mixed bag for me.
Bringing the Band Together
It was around 2007-2008 that the band really got started, and we really ground our way from the bottom up. We had no connections, and virtually no money, but we managed to rent rehearsal spaces wherever we could, and finally persuaded a few small clubs and bars to let our band play.
These were not epic gigs by any stretch of the imagination, but they let us hone our craft. It was also though playing shows that we began building a reputation and getting our name out there, which finally led to us hiring a manager, buying an old van, and trying our hand at touring, and it’s now been around ten years on and off the road.
Whenever anyone asks us what advice we’d give to other up and coming artists, the number one thing that comes to mind is persistence. There are some artist who are lucky enough to have hits right away, and some who have to put out five albums before they catch a break.
Either way though, if you want to continue to grow and be as successful as you can possibly be, you have to be willing to stick it out, through good times and bad.
I’d say this advice goes for living as a visually impaired person as well. There are and will always be challenges, injustices and generally dark times, the only way to handle it is to put your head down and keep driving forward. There will always be a newer, brighter day, if you can just make it through till the morning.
Casey Harris is the keyboardist for X Ambassadors, which he founded with his brother Sam. The band’s new album, Orion, is available everywhere you buy music.
You can follow the band online via Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. And you can follow Casey himself on Instagram at @CaseyHarris_XA.
Casey Harris - Space Camp Hall of Fame (Class of 2019)
7 Aug 2019 Space Camp
Casey Harris
Hometown: Ithaca, New York
Attended: Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students, 2000 and 2001
Casey Harris is the first Space Camp for Interested Visually Impaired Students (SCIVIS) alumnus to be inducted into the Space Camp Hall of Fame. Fascinated with aviation since his godfather took him on an airplane ride as a young teen, Casey jumped at the chance to attend Aviation Challenge when he learned about SCIVIS. A two-time graduate and Top Gun award recipient, Casey said attending SCIVIS was “one of the most formative experiences” of his life. He continues his long-time interest with aviation and space, even giving his son the middle name “Orion.” The constellation is also the name of the second album by Casey’s band, X Ambassadors. Casey is the keyboardist in the successful rock band, whose members include his brother, Sam, on vocals and Adam Levin on drums.
The rock trio's keyboardist answers a Ticketmaster 10 interview.
10 Things X Ambassadors’ Casey Harris Wants Fans to Know
Oct 10, 2019
For a band of three people, X Ambassadors have always managed to sound as big as an army. Anthems like “Hey Child,” “Jungle” and “Boom” are the adrenaline inducing equivalent of skydiving, which is why we are so pumped to catch them on their new tour, fresh off the release of their most recent album, Orion.
Just as the trio — brothers Sam (vocals) and Casey Harris (keyboards) and Adam Levin (drums) — embarked on their new tour, which extends until the end of 2019, we caught up with Casey for a Ticketmaster 10 interview. During our discussion, we talked about his favorite concert ever, the show he is most excited to binge and much more. Read the full interview below, and be sure to pick up tickets right here.
Ticketmaster 10 with Casey Harris of X Ambassadors
1. What’s the first song you learned to play?
The first song I ever learned how to play on the piano is the theme song to Phantom of the Opera. As kids, Sam and I were big fans of Phantom of the Opera. It was way before I took any piano lessons — I had my mom help me pick out the chords and everything.
2. What’s your favorite memory of attending a show as a fan?
J. Cole playing at Lollapalooza in 2012, before he had much success. He had a DJ and a full band with him, and he killed it! His verses blew me away. I’ve never seen a rapper work with a band like that before. On the same stage was Tune-Yards, and she was unbelievable as well. The J. Cole set just stands out for me. We played the first day at the BMI stage, and we were just wandering around, and he and Tune Yards were the highlights of the festival.
3. Describe your performance style in one word.
Flail.
4. If you could have dinner with anyone, who would it be?
I’d really love to have dinner with Obama. He was such a G and he’s still such a G. I’d love to pick his brain and see if he has any solutions to help the current state of the country.
5. Fill in the blank: I would be a nervous wreck if I knew _______ was in the audience watching me.
Jan Hammer. He was one of my biggest keyboard influences growing up, and to this day, is still one of the best keyboard players ever. I hear he doesn’t go to many concerts these days, but if he were in the crowd I would be a nervous wreck.
6. What’s the first lyric you wrote that you were really proud of?
I had a band before Sam’s band, and I can say that I am probably not proud of any of the lyrics that I wrote in that band. In terms of the first lyric that I was the most proud of my brother for — that would be an unreleased song that he wrote for his then-girlfriend at 16 or 17, and it was called something like “Don’t Lose Me Like That.” One of the lines I remember is “Baby don’t look confused I love you.” Some of the first love songs he wrote were pretty impressive.
7. What’s your dream collaboration?
I would love to collaborate with this relatively unknown artist named Tobacco. He actually did the theme song to Silicon Valley. We would all love to collaborate with Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails, Kendrick Lamar, and J. Cole would be a dream to collaborate with as well. Kendrick is definitely someone we have on our bucket list to work with.
8. Fill in the blank: If a music lover is into ______, _______ and ______, they’ll love X Ambassadors.
Genuine storytelling with real emotion drawn from real experience.
9. Who do you do it for and why?
To be totally honest, we probably mostly make music for ourselves. But now we have a fanbase which is why we didn’t release Joyful and went on to release to Orion. We put music out now with our fanbase in mind.
10. What are your words to live by?
I guess it’s kinda cliche but keep trying and don’t give up. And find what you love and do it because you love it. Persistence and not throwing in the towel, ever. No matter how many packets of ramen and eggs you have to eat, don’t give up on what you love.
ENCORE!
11. On a scale of 1–10, how stoked are you on life right now?
I would say as close to 10 as anyone could ever get. I have a baby boy and a wife who’s amazing. Sam just got married. We’re about to go on tour. Adam has a girl he loves and just finished renovating his childhood home and put a studio in the back. So we’re all living on a 10 here.
12. What’s your favorite ritual before you grace the stage?
We are all very bad non-practicing Jews in the band. So we say the prayer of the Shehecheyanu before any show.
13. What’s been your favorite show to binge on the road?
On the road, I’m pretty much an audiobooks guy. I read Ben Bova — his Grand Tour series was pretty amazing. It must have been more than 20 books. That took me through multiple tours. My wife and I are really looking forward to the new season of Big Mouth. That show is really funny.
14. What is your dream instrument to own and why?
There is nothing in the world that compares to the experience of playing a big, badass grand piano. That probably has to be my number one. Followed by a Hammond organ.
15. What would you tell your younger self now as an established star?
I would tell my younger self not to get so depressed because it really does get better. I know things can be sh-t sometimes, but it really does get better.
