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Talented Young Performer Comes to Carmel SHORTCUTS MUSIC 56 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 1 4 Casey Frazier broke into the music business in Nashville as a songwriter and performer as a teenager. Frazier (shown celebrating his birthday at The Library at Café Napoli in Carmel) has written songs for country star Tim McGraw, among others. Photo: Kelli Uldall A t the age when most American kids are focused on scoring a dri- ver's license, Casey Frazier was working in Nashville, Tennessee, his sights set on writing the next big hit single. "At 16, I was one of the youngest writers to get a publishing deal," Frazier says. Affiliated with coun- try star Tim McGraw's organization, he churned out tune after tune— some recorded by McGraw and other artists but unreleased. Frazier was born in Kansas, but his family soon decamped for Colorado. Seeing a Garth Brooks special when he was 4 years old set him on the path he follows to this day. "He started it," Frazier says. "I wanted to be a cowboy and I wanted to play music." Soon he was putting on shows for family and friends, miming to Brooks' music. At that age he was already playing drums and he picked up guitar at age 5. "I was homeschooled. That allowed me plenty of time to practice." Another family relocation to Nashville put him at the epicenter of American music. "At 14, I was playing every night in bars," Frazier recalls. "That was an education." He was soon discovered and signed by a mem- ber of McGraw's publishing team, but also kept his eye on a career as a performer. "I was very much chasing a record deal, trying to get a number 1 on the radio," he recalls. "There was never a moment where I thought, 'Well, I guess I should write songs now,'" Frazier says. "But I always knew that was what I was supposed to do." He wrote his first song at age 8: "Life Ain't Easy." "Like an 8-year-old knows anything about that," he jokes. This highly engaging and talented young man—he just turned 25— came to the Monterey Peninsula a few years ago to join his fiancé, Carmel Valley native Natalie Alfaro. Frazier can be heard most Friday and Saturdays at Jack London's Pub & Grill in Carmel. To learn more about his background and to hear Frazier's infectious music, visit www.caseyfrazier.net. —Michael Chatfield 044-70 Shortcuts_SU05 Carmel Magazine 4/21/14 7:28 AM Page 6