Biography of Jared Gabriel

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One day — in a dark storage closet in Knoxville, Tennessee — Jared Gabriel stumbled upon a dusty nylon string acoustic guitar with only three strings and several broken tuners. His mother noted his interest. She took the guitar to a small, local music shop to have the tuners and strings fixed. Jared was ten years old. Jared started playing with friends and friends of friends. He soon picked up on songs like Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” His older brother’s buddies were his first teachers, but even a ten-year-old Jared knew they could only take him so far.

Jared started taking lessons from the instructor at that same small, local music shop. He quickly added songs like “Purple Haze”, and “Sweet Home Alabama” to his repertoire. But after only a few lessons, Jared dropped out. He had realized his instructor’s skills were lacking, particularly when it came to one of the fills in “Sweet Home Alabama.” The teacher got it wrong, and Jared got it right. Magic!

The heavens opened above. A booming voice spoke from beyond. It was obvious to Jared and everyone around him. He was a musical prodigy on his way to the top.

His parents divorced when he was 13. After relocating to Phoenix, Arizona, Jared coped with the upheaval by working on his musical skills every day. At Barry Goldwater High School, he met Tyler Muetzenberg. Tyler was already making a name for himself in a local reggae/rock band by the name of Underwater.

The players in Underwater knew talent when it knocked on their door. They asked Jared to join right after he had graduated. Jared quickly learned their setlist playing bass, leveraging his considerable guitar skills. Jared’s tenure in Underwater gave him the chance to share the stage with a list of bands that reads like a roster of the bests of the rock and reggae scene, both in Phoenix and beyond! Authority Zero, Pepper, Steel Pulse, Eek-A-Mouse, Yellow Man, Unwritten Law, the Expendables, Dirty Heads, Israel Vibrations, and many more. Underwater would eventually split. For a short time, Jared toured nationally as bassist for Fayuca. Times were good, but Jared knew he needed to follow his own muse.

Throughout the musical journey that was to follow, Jared became a multi-instrumentalist further developing skills on bass and guitar adding the drums and keyboard and even perfecting his vocal talents. Jared’s inspirations are a wild mix of 311, Incubus, Sublime, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Van Halen, Dream Theater, Pantera, Slayer, Joe Satriani, Iration, and Rebelution. He even calls upon such varied sources as jazz guitarist Peter White and Canadian chanteuse Sarah McLachlan. But the uplifting 311 type reggae/rock sound resonated with him the most. It’s his cornerstone.

With the skills and experience of twenty (or more) years of playing and touring, Jared knew he had what he needed to write, produce, and perform his own EP right from the cozy confines of his north Phoenix apartment. Jared Gabriel’s official release of his debut “One Life” EP happens August 4th. It’s set to happen at the world-famous Rockbar in Old-Town Scottsdale. Jared’s live band comprises some of the strongest players in today’s scene! Phil Keiser and Kelyn Weaver of Black Bottom Lighters bring their guitar, vocals, and keys. Added are the talents of Johannes Lar, former bassist of the Black Moods, and Jorge Gutierrez from Phoenix’s own Radiofix. Go ahead and call it the Valley’s own supergroup but no Valley is big enough to contain their greatness.

Expect to find Jared and company rocking huge crowds at venues like Denver’s Red Rocks in the very near future.