We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tony Abrams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tony, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

The most meaningful project I have been honored to produce is Flagstaff’s Annual Jerry Garcia Birthday Bash. This August, we will be celebrating the 16th year since its manifestation. In the past decade, the Deadhead community has raised over $100,000 for local 501(c)3 charities in Flagstaff, Arizona, such as Habitat for Humanity, Flagstaff Family Food Center, The Haven Walker Memorial Music Scholarship, The United Way and more. The reward of giving back to our family and friends in need, has humbled me and it’s what drives me to produce this event year after year. To see the impact we have made locally, from our events, is inspiring.

Tony, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Love music, plain and simple. It helps me in daily life. My love for music began at an early age when I started to learn guitar and trombone in the 5th grade. I remember the joy I felt after learning how to play The Love Boat theme. Playing an instrument became an outlet to meeting new people, as I started to see how music affects people in such a positive way. Shortly after this time, I was exposed to the Grateful Dead culture and music, and it was life-changing! I soon found myself traveling all over the country to go to their shows, collecting and trading live shows on cassette tapes, witnessing kindness between strangers, and of course the tastiest grilled cheese sandwiches I’ve ever had were in those parking lots!!

When I was ready to settle down and make Flagstaff my home, I formed a Grateful Dead tribute band. In 2003 we held our first all Dead music event with 12 amazing people in attendance. The following year, 25 people were dancing along to our sets. A few years later was when we first promoted it as the 3rd Annual Jerry Garcia Birthday Bash, and we have been going strong ever since. About 10 years ago, we added a non-profit partner, in hopes of raising funds for the local Food Bank. We called ourselves Grateful Bread that year. We have kept the momentum by adding more charities to our efforts, including my other event; the Grateful Festival, which is held every year on Memorial Day Weekend. Every event I produce will ALWAYS be geared towards raising money for our Flagstaff community through many wonderful, supportive charities. This is who we are, how I was raised. Service before self. This is an important thing for my son to learn, that my lovely wife and I hopefully demonstrate daily. It is important to be a good person and help others. Money is not the most important thing out there, wealth is having true family, friends, community, and helping others, always. Love is the golden rule! It is very liberating that we are able to make an impact by doing something we love.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

We have been blessed with our partnerships with local charities, like Habitat for Humanity. Our mission and goal each year is to raise money where we would be able to fund a new complete home for someone in need here in Flagstaff. We like to call it; The House That Jerry Built. We are getting closer to that goal each year! If you are going to dream, dream big.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Playing music for people is a selfish pleasure of mine. I do it to be a part of a larger collective whole. The Grateful Dead never played a song the same way twice. So, when playing for a live audience, its organic and fun and challenging to create something new each time. Looking out into the crowd and seeing the wave of energy from everyone dancing and smiling is my reward. I have also learned to accept help and take compliments. Not as easy as it sounds! We cannot create our festivals without countless help from others. Friends, family, volunteers, they are all part of the magic. People wanting to help is a great feeling. They see what we are trying to do and want to be part of it. It truly takes a village. I cannot thank everyone enough for being part of the Grateful Festival and Jerry Garcia Birthday Bash family. Being able to share this joy and visions, events with my wife and son means the world to me!

Contact Info:

• Website: gratefulfestival.com
• Instagram: gratefulfestivalflagstaff
• Facebook: Grateful Festival
• Linkedin: Tony Abrams
• Youtube: flagship of fools

Image Credits
Chris Bachler