Hello all and welcome! Here’s a little about me…
Who am I?
I’m a writer, editor, traveler, pianist, producer, performer, singer, seeker, songwriter, composer, surfer, water person, meditator, change-maker, and owner of my own creative and media business.
My stories are about those things. Living in many different places, traveling in many different countries, what it was like to be a professional in the music world, practicing meditation, and my love for waves and the ocean.
I also write about growing up in the middle of nowhere in the middle of Central Minnesota, with a hippie mother who cleaned houses and took care of Catholic nuns, and a father who was a Vietnam veteran and a prison guard. Because that was the beginning of my creative life.
When I was four, I started playing piano and writing words. Both combined became the epicenter of my career.
I was a songwriting, touring, sweating, struggling and sometimes succeeding professional musician for a long time. But I’ve had other careers, too.
In San Francisco’s dot com and digital worlds, I was a media producer. In Seattle, Key West, and Berkeley, I was a bartender. In Prague and Berlin, I kept the dance floor moving as a club DJ. In Alaska, I worked on the docks and threw fish. In Oregon, I was a laundry room boy and a football security guard.
I had a brief stint as a disastrous breakfast cook in Texas, and I was the worst waiter in the known universe in Marin County, CA. I’ve been a spoken word poet, a literary magazine marketer, and a barista. Sometimes, I was just a surf bum and those were good times.
But my most rewarding and longest money-making gigs have been as a creative producing work.
I wrote and produced eight full-length records, three EPs, and many singles. Concerts, videos, and touring followed my releases. The grind of the music and entertainment industries was never easy, but I was told I was pretty good at it.
During the course of everything, I dealt with chronic pain, anxiety, OCD, depression, over-indulgence, and ”bad boy” behavior. I suffered the flames of burnout many times, but I also found success in some very cool places around the world.
I toured Europe seven times, and I played all over the United States (and in Mexico). I sang solo at Oakland Coliseum, gave out Grammy awards in San Francisco, adapted and recorded famous Dutch songs in English, performed on live TV in Amsterdam and Friesland, and sang the lead in a song and video for a hip-hop reality show star. I was in newspapers and magazines and became internationally known as the barefoot punk pianist.
After sharing stages with rock stars and making a lot of fans and friends all over, I slipped out of the music world and found a new audience as a writer. Over the last several years, I’ve been published in a variety of publications. Storytelling is the foundation of who I am, but I believe all human beings have incredible stories.
Now you can read my work on this platform. I’d love for you to subscribe. Just click:
When will I post?
I post stories every two weeks. Mostly to my Substack The Key of G, but I also collaborate with publications and podcasters, and I’m always open to new connections.
Do I post more than words?
Yes, you’ll find links to my music, videos of past performances, and official music videos. You might see magazine covers I worked for, old show and tour posters, and I include lots of photos from my past and present. Travel photos and ones of very young me are my personal favorites.
Where can you learn more about me?
On my website! Click here:
Thanks for subscribing and following me. I’m excited to share my work with you!
-Gentry
