KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
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For Lawrence resident Elias Abid, music is a universal language that creates community, and the music he creates reflects his worldwide roots.
“Because I was born in Paris and I grew up in Kansas City, I was split between two different homes, two different households, two different cultures," Abid said. "So, identifying myself with a single place has been very difficult.”
Growing up, Abid spent his summers in France with his Algerian grandmother and the rest of his time in Kansas City, where he spent his time playing soccer.
"Soccer was my first love," Abid said.
Abid said as a child, he thought he would become a professional soccer player, but as he approached his mid-teens, his priority became making music.
Over the past couple weeks, he has seen his worlds collide in Lawrence as the town adopted Team Algeria for the World Cup.
“Seeing Algerians on (Massachusetts) Street and just around, and seeing people that look like me has been the biggest shock," Abid said. "It’s been so inspiring seeing the community get together."
It has helped him find the identity he said he has been looking for.
“This feeling of home is this feeling I’ve always been searching for," Abid said. "A lot of my music has been inspired by that kind of process.”
Abid said the World Cup and Algerian energy in Lawrence has been life changing for his inspiration. He said he has been working on a six-song EP project for the past couple years, but he has really been motivated by the environment in Lawrence over the past couple weeks.
"It's informing my music in ways that I didn’t realize it would," Abid said. "I think it will be interesting to see what music will come out of this moment as I continue to write new music.”
The World Cup hasn't only inspired Abid to create music but community too.
“I pitched the idea of doing a watch party," Abid said. "It was the day after the World Cup event against Austria. I was just so excited and charged, and I was like we have to do something.”
Thursday night at In The Lowest Ferns in Kansas City's West Bottoms neighborhood, Abid will put on his first-ever live performance of his music followed by a watch party for the Algeria vs. Switzerland match.
Abid will begin performing at 8 p.m. at the cocktail lounge, located at 1105 Hickory St. The World Cup match begins at 10 p.m.
“Inspiration was really just to bring community together and create that true universal language moment of music, football, food and culture," Abid said of the watch party. "Just tying everything together for people in Kansas City who maybe haven’t fully experienced what’s going on here in Lawrence.”
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