A midwestern transplant, this son of a South Dakota preacher turns out to have real rock and roll roots.
Q: Congratulations on making the Top 24!
Thank you.
Q: Are you getting recognized more now on the street?
Just now, it is starting to get that way. I will be out to breakfast and people will say “Are you Creighton Fraker?” And I will say “Yes. How did you know? Oh yeah, I am on TV!”
Q: You have described yourself as “quirky.” What do you mean?
I have a unique style to me. I have been living in the midwest, but I also have a sort of New York style to me as well. I am a strange mixture of downtown New York meets midwestern boy.
Q: You have a really compelling back story. You were adopted, right?
I grew up as a preacher’s kid in South Dakota. I always grew up knowing I was adopted. There was never a point where it was sprung on me. I always kind of knew that. And I always expressed a lot of interest in one day finding out more about where I came from. It seemed like such a part of what made me who I am. I ended up having a different personality from the surroundings I grew up in. It was always a little confusing to me who I was. A lot of me is still that makeup that I was raised with. I still have a lot of those same values. But there was always something about me that didn’t make up the equation.
Q: So what did you do?
My adopted father was the one who was most excited about it. He knew I had interest and really just jumped on it. When I was graduating from high school, my friends were all getting big elaborate gifts. My parents couldn’t really afford to get me a whole lot. So my present from them was looking in to finding out who my birth parents were. They did some research and I think went back to the doctor that delivered me and then through the adoption agency found out who my mother was. I get her information and she was still in contact with my birth father. So I kind of knew who he was for a while. He was just on tour or I was somewhere else and we never had the chance to meet. I actually knew my birth mother for years prior to meeting my birth father. I didn’t have the chance to meet him until I was 25. I met my birth mom at 18. Now I am 28. So just three years ago. I have a new brother and sister and stepmom. I am just getting to know all of them. I went to Disneyland last year. It has been such a fun experience to see my family grow. Even my adopted parents that I grew up with have the same philosophy. I don’t think they feel any strange feelings about it. They are more buying into the philosophy that love grows and this is just an extension of our family. More family for us to enjoy.
Q: Why did they give you up for adoption?
They were very young. I actually have an older sister who is two years older than me who they also gave up for adoption, who I have never met. They were in high school. They were high school sweehearts and they just kind of knew that they weren’t in the place emotionally or financially to give me the things I would have needed. So I think that they had compassion beyond my understanding. I was very lucky to have the upbringing that I had. I probably wouldn’t have had the opportunities that were given to me if I had started in a home with a high school kid who didn’t know what he was doing.
Q: You sound like you are really ok with the way it worked out.
It was just a really lucky situation. I couldn’t be happier with the parents I grew up with. I couldn’t be more attached to them as my real parents. Then to find my birth parents… I know have three different families that are all happy to see me.
Q: What was that first meeting with your dad like?
It was crazy. My birth mother was actually there to introduce us. He lives in Phoenix and I was on tour at the time with a show. And we just happened to have a couple of days off back to back. My birth mother was able to fly out there and she brought us to a bar that had a live karaoke band. My mom had me go up on stage and sing a song and I had no idea my birth father was there and he joined me on stage! I knew who he was just from seeing him on stage. I looked over and was like “Whoa!” We finished the song before we had a real hug moment. It was a fun, crazy experience meeting him. I don’t even remember the song. I think it was Led Zeppelin.
Q: You were on tour? What kind of show?
It was called the Backyardians. We all played characters. I was Austin, the purple kangaroo. That’s how I earned a living.
Q: How long did you do that?
I did that for almost a year. We went to like 50 different cities.
Q: Are you going to try to find your sister?
I would love to find her. I am not sure if she has as much interest in her birth family as I do. We had a little contact on Facebook at one point and then we just fell out of touch. I would love if the show could be a way to bring us together.
Q: What kind of a preacher was your dad?
It was a non-denominational church. Church of Christ, you would say.
Q: And your mom?
She worked off and on. When we were little kids she was just the preacher’s wife. Now she is an insurance salesman.
Q: The heavy metal in your DNA…is that ever going to come out?
There are definitely times when you can catch crazy rock belts that I have in there. So yes. There will be times on the show, where if I have the opportunity you will be able to hear that. I feel like stylistically I am quite a bit different from that, but I definitely have those tendencies in my voice.
Q: So you grew up in the mid west…?
I grew up in Brandon, South Dakota. Its quite the opposite of New York. Just buffalo and tumbleweed. There is not a lot happening. It a very run of the mill small midwesten town.
Q: You must have been bored to tears?
Looking back I was bored because now I know the difference. At the time, it was a great place to grow up. It was easier for me to get my foot in the performing arts door. There wasn’t as much competition, so to say. It really gave me the confidence to move to New York and pursue it then.
Q: When did you move to NY?
I moved to New York 8 years ago. I moved with a friend. I didn’t have anyone here that I knew. I moved to New York with $150 in my pocket. I just packed my car and took off. Looking back on it it seems crazy, but it was what I always had to do.
Q: Were you always able to support yourself through performing?
There were a few years in there where I was waiting tables or doing whatever it took to get by. But I always still had my foot in acting and music.
Q: Where?
I worked at a place called The Kitty Chai which is in the Thompson Hotel in Soho. I opened that with them and worked there for a couple of years. I also worked at Fresco By Scotto which is owned by Rosanna Scotto