Like many teenagers, Gabe James left his childhood home to venture on his own as a growing young adult. Unlike his peers who set out to study at college, Gabe packed up and moved across states alone to pursue his dreams: developing his sound as a singer-songwriter in Los Angeles. Over the course of a year thanks to a global pandemic, Gabe put his head down developing his debut EP ‘A Boy from Colorado’, an upbeat work that pays homage to the journey from his home state to California.
Clocking in at just under 10 minutes, the 4-track project serves as a wonderful introduction to Gabe James as a person and an artist. Musically, the songs showcase James’ strong vocal range and strikingly mature guitar-playing skills. A warm, laidback sound that is perfect for summer playlists, the themes of love that James expresses on “Julia” and “Suddenly” come through with a sweet, minimalist authenticity. The EP’s closer “Mexico” is the resident standout, finding James’ at his most confident in his abilities with a melody that’s sure to get stuck in your head. The music video that just dropped features Gabe in a faux bedroom fixated on the back of a pickup truck: driving through the Colorado landscape while performing (and casually picking up a quick pad thai to go).
Speaking on the project, Gabe says, “It feels so great to finally release this project that I’ve been holding onto for so long. I began writing the songs off this EP in my bedroom back in high school.” Reflecting on his influences, Gabe continues, “I grew up listening to more singer-songwriter style artists like Ed Sheeran, Chet Faker, and John Mayer, which inspired me to keep most of my songs feeling intimate and acoustic. I think that there was also an isolation factor where I lived up in the foothills of Colorado that influenced my music to be more chill and acoustic.”
Be sure to get familiar with the rising songwriter, and press play on Gabe’s new EP here.
