With Help From Leon Bridges, Mavis Staples and Gary Clark Jr., Soulful Fort Worth Musician Abraham Alexander Takes Off

If you haven’t heard of Abraham Alexander yet, let us introduce you. The expressive and expansive Fort Worth singer-songwriter kicked off a busy spring with an appearance at SXSW, and he’s traversing the country on a jam-packed tour schedule before heading back to Texas for early summer performances. To cap off his spring tour, Alexander was invited to appear at both Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival and Newport Folk Festival (a festival Alexander says was on his bucket list for years).

But it doesn’t stop there. The biggest news of the season is that Abraham Alexander’s debut album, SEA/SONS, is set to drop right in the middle of it all on April 14.

Alexander’s style is difficult to categorize, bouncing somewhere between R&B, soul, and even gospel. His voice channels a modern-day Sam Cooke, with long, soulful notes. But when we dug a bit deeper, Alexander told us that he describes his own music style as folk. He’s a storyteller at heart.

The child of Nigerian parents, Alexander grew up in Greece until age 11, when his family arrived in their new home of Texas. It was a complicated childhood, which saw more than its share of tragedy. From the death of his mother, killed by a drunk driver shortly after arriving in the United States, to the death of his brother Xavier, to his own adoption during his teenage years, Alexander had a lot to process. Music helped him through it.

Alexander says SEA/SONS, which begins and ends with a prayer and a series of amens, was like therapy. The first song on the album is titled “Xavier,” after his brother, and the final track is simply titled “Amen.” It’s a single song split as a prayer, Alexander notes, in the hope of seeing his brother again one day. It’s a cleansing breath, a healing moment and praise for the life lived.

“It’s a way of letting go of grief, and a way to honor him,” he says.

Back To The Beginning

“I didn’t speak the language when I arrived in Texas and was kind of a loner, even as a child in Greece,” Alexander tells PaperCity Fort Worth. “After age 11, I grew up in Arlington and went to Arlington Lamar High School before moving to Fort Worth while attending Texas Wesleyan.”

Alexander studied exercise science (his other passion being athletics, especially soccer) before his life took a fateful turn.

While working as a bank teller, Alexander became friends with an up-and-coming musician who was working as a dishwasher ― a guy by the name of Leon Bridges. When Alexander noticed Josh Block and Austin Jenkins, founders of fledgling Niles City Sound, struggling to unload heavy amps before a recording session with then-unknown Bridges, he had no idea he’d soon become a background singer on that Grammy Award-nominated debut album. They were looking for singers and musicians and inquired if Alexander could sing, to which he immediately replied, “No.”

But, he could sing; he just had no confidence in his own sound and storytelling at the time.

“I hated my voice and the way it sounded,” Alexander says. “It wasn’t until I discovered me ―  I was unknown to myself at the time, and just following my intuition.”

That was his first experience both in a studio or recording a song. Bridges encouraged him to explore his own sound and lean into his music. Alexander took the advice to heart and experimented with his music and live audiences at local open mic nights. Those audiences approved.

Abraham Alexander On Working With His Heroes

Since those nascent days, Alexander has opened for the likes of Bridges, Ani DiFranco and Mavis Staples ― who needed a last-minute opening act at a concert in Austin and invited Alexander to fill the vacancy. Staples returned the favor, adding her rich and haunting vocals to Alexander’s song “Déjà Vu,” which he wrote about the unjust imprisonment of Kalief Browder (held for three years at Rikers Island without trial), Browder’s cruel isolation in solitary confinement for 700 days, the resulting mental health issues and Browder’s ultimate suicide.

“As artists, we must be a sounding board of the times,” Alexander says. “The story of Kalief really touched me, and it’s not a black or white issue.”

Browder was a young man who was set up for failure and abused by the legal system, and he’s not the first. “Déjà Vu” is a cry for change.

Another “pinch-me moment” for Alexander was getting to work with Texas guitarist Gary Clark Jr. on the song “Stay.”

“The fact that your hero will be on your debut album is amazing. I used to try to emulate his guitar playing,” Alexander says. “When you question, ‘Is this good enough?’ Working with heroes like Mavis Staples and Gary Clark Jr. lets you know that they wouldn’t be supporters if the music wasn’t there.”

The album is melodic and contemplative, exploring themes of loss and hope, longing and vision. While the repeated amen flows through SEA/SONS, so do the background vocals, hinting at the passionate fullness of a  church choir. But Alexander says he wanted his lyrics and his voice to be at the forefront of his debut album.

SEA/SONS is now available for pre-order and streaming.