As a young teen, Justin Andrews’ legendary lineage was more of a fun fact than a lifelong mission. His school friends would brag to their parents about knowing him as the grandson of Otis Redding, but to him, the soul icon was just… well, just grandpa. “I was like, ‘I guess that's cool,’” remembers Andrews. “But then, after researching more and listening to my grandma and of course my mom and my uncles and putting the pieces together about exactly who my granddad was, I was like, ’Man, this guy's a pretty big deal.’”
Today, that guy, Otis Redding, has become Andrews’s purpose. As Director of Global Initiatives for the Otis Redding Foundation, Andrews is one of the leaders of an organization designed to “empower, enrich, and motivate all young people through programs involving music, writing and instrumentation.” It’s a weighty responsibility. But it’s one he’s grown into the role, helping facilitate music camps, helping connect with sponsors and more.
Speaking to Okayplayer, the 37-year-old breaks down his day-to-day responsibilities, the foundation’s accomplishments, his grandfather’s legacy, and more.
Okayplayer: So, your title is Director of Global Initiatives. What are some of your day to day responsibilities?
Justin Andrews: So I am the one that really does a lot of traveling, of course, spreading the brand of Otis Redding, No. 1. But more importantly in the role of the foundation, spreading exactly what we're doing down here in Macon, Ga. for the youth in our community through music and arts education. I’m finding those sponsor dollars, making those connections with other artists, companies, so on and so forth, and not being the face, but being another face that people can recognize and let them see that this is also a part of the legacy.
You also work with students for your music program. What’s your favorite part of that?
My favorite part about it is seeing the self-confidence that’s built in the kids that are involved in our programs. Of course, it's great to be able to expose them to different things in the art and entertainment community and bringing them different artists and people who are actually inside of this thing we call the music business. We let them have real conversations with people who do this every day. But at the end of the day, being able to see the self-confidence that these kids have from being in our programs, being on stages, writing songs, playing in bands, so on and so forth, tis really the main reason why we do all of this. It is tough being a kid nowadays from social media and constantly comparing yourself to your peers and people you have never even met a day in your life. And sometimes that has a very detrimental effect on the youth throughout this country, throughout the world. And just for us to be able to take a small group of those kids and engulf them inside of our programs and seeing that self-confidence rise and seeing their grades go up and seeing them be more involved inside of their communities and more involved in doing nonprofit activities and trying to do benefits and passing on what they have learned to that next generation of kids is why we're excited to go to work every day.
What’s your favorite event you’ve done with students so far?
It’s definitely our Otis Music Camp that we do every June. We just wrapped up our 19th Otis Music Camp. We’re going into our 20th anniversary next year. But just to be able to see those teenagers learn all the facets of the music business, but also they get to come in and write, record and perform all of their own original music at the end of camp. We hold a big finale performance that the community definitely comes out and supports, and of course, parents and friends and family come and support the kids as well. But seeing a kid be so shy and on the verge of tears standing on side stage and then watching them walk on that stage and do their song and hear the ovation from the crowd and the screams and the cheers and the claps and watching them, their faces lined up and walk off that stage, they completely turn into another person once they walk off that stage and receive that ovation. So for us, that's, like I said, that is really where it started. So that is always by far my favorite program that we do.
What accomplishment at the Otis Redding Foundation are you most proud of?
99% of the kids that we have had have graduated high school and gone on to higher learning.
I'll say about 95% of them have definitely graduated. About 80% of them have gone on to be involved inside of the music industry in some way, shape or form. Music is just almost like an outlet for them and a safe space for them to be able to express themselves. But the building of the self-confidence inside of that kid and watching them go on to higher learning colleges, universities, trade schools, whatever it may be, all those kids are really dedicated in their craft and in their education because we also push that as well. We write a ton of recommendation letters and help out with scholarships.
What are your goals you have for the foundation going forward?
Well, one of our recent milestones was us being able to open up our brand new Otis Redding Center for the Arts. It opened in March.Now that we have this incredible space that these kids can come in every day after school, weekends, all summer long, to be involved in the programs that we offer. That is really kind of the tip of the iceberg. It may be a little cliche, but the sky's the limit for us. I mean, we are constantly putting our brains together on what we can do to A, to keep up in this industry, and B, let kids experience new things from year to year from being inside of our programs.
Your grandfather is obviously a soul icon. What’s your favorite Otis Redding song?
That's always a really good question. It changes all the time. As of right now, my favorite Otis Redding song is “Old Man Trouble” off the Otis Blue album. As I'm getting older in life and kind of aging and thinking about the old man troubles of what'll happen as you get older, that's my go-to Otis Redding song song at this point.
Right, we’re all getting older. You’re now older than your grandfather Otis ever was. Does that ever cross your mind?
Almost every day. I look at my granddad, and by the time he passed, he was 26, had a successful career, was married with three kids, had a huge ranch out in the country, and I'm just like, “Man, this guy was a different breed.” I can't think of any other people that really, and for a lack of a better term, had their life together in their early twenties. I know in my early twenties, I was into college and partying; what all the early 20-year-old dudes do. But like I said, as I get older, I sit and I think, and I'm just like, man, am I behind the curve? Am I where I should be at this time? I'm not sure. Everybody around me is telling me, you're doing great, where you need to be, etc.
But also in the back of my mind, I'm like, dude, this guy had everything figured out together, and he was 11 years younger than I am at this point. And that's where I believe the drive and striving for this legacy to continue and working as hard as we do and keeping this family unit together. I think it all really stemmed from that. I mean, if he could do it, especially back in the '60s, I mean, damn, I should be able to do that now with ease.
Your grandfather left a profound mark on the world of music. How does it make you feel to be charged with sustaining his legacy?
Well, to start off, it makes me feel like, I don't want to say lucky, but I'm more, I'm blessed to be able to be inside of this legacy. But coming from my grandmother, and if you meet her, she is a pistol. She has always told us to No. 1, always remain humble. Any of this that we are doing and what we continue to do with not just the brand, but with the foundation and moving on to the Center for the Arts and all the things we do for kids, everything can be pretty much taken away from you at any given time. So it's always No. 1, to always remain humble in what you're doing. It’s a blessing to be able to continue this legacy, more importantly with a man that I've never ever got to meet. On one side, it’s a little weird because I'm living through stories and piecing together exactly who my granddad was, but also on the other side, this is family, this is a legacy. This is a brand, and this is what we will continue to push until none of us are no longer here.
