Today we’d like to introduce you to Gavin Sasser.
Gavin, before we jump into specific questions about your work, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I Started young, like 9. I remember trying out to be a Disney kid. You had to upload a YouTube video of yourself singing. I sang “Stop And Stare” by OneRepublic. I just hope that video is still not out there.
Soon after that I got sick. I was Home bound from school. I was having horrible stomach pain and migraines. Drs where baffled. After almost a year I was diagnosed with abdominal migraines associated with depression. I didn’t tell my parents but some students and a teacher was picking on me at school. I was always a shy quiet kid. Didn’t like trouble so I just didn’t say anything. The dr told my mom this diagnoses and it didn’t make sense to her, that’s when I told her everything. The drs said I would never have a normal life. I was a severe case. I would never go to school or work. My mom full of faith knew that wouldn’t be a life sentence for me. So We ended up moving to Aransas Pass where I came off all meds, started playing football and made a lot of friends. Depression is real and I’m very passionate about that subject. However I do not struggle with it anymore.
I stopped singing around 11 and taught myself drums. I played drums at my parent’s church. Around 15 yrs of age my mom started noticing I could sing. So she told our worship leader, Coach Cribb, I think Gavin can sing. You should see if he will try a song. So one Day Coach Cribb said your singing this week, pick a song. We call him Coach Cribb cause he was my middle school football coach. Everyone called him that. So I sang and everyone was like where did that voice come from? Soon after Coach had to take some time away and I was leading worship at my parent’s church.
My sr year, I quit football to focus on my music. My last year of high school once I turned 18, I started getting a few gigs in Corpus Christi and Rockport TX area. After graduating, my family Made the decision to move to Houston to help me further my career in a bigger city with the hopes of more opportunity. I joined the Clear Lake School Of Rock before aging out at 19 after a few months in. I made everlasting friends there and connections to people who still support me today.
Jeremy Horton, owner of SOR on my last show gave me the opportunity to sing at The House Of Blues. That Awesome experience with a full band. EJ Nolan, owner as well of the SOR, still messages me every now and then just to see what I’m doing and to let me know of any opportunities that might help me out.
When I aged out of the SOR, I wasn’t sure what to do Next, so I just started sending out booking inquiry letters to every live music venue on Facebook. I Also started attending all the open mics I could. That’s where I meet Jay Bee Zay owner of Plug N’ Play Music group, who has been an awesome supporter and also helpful with advice on long the way. If your in the Houston area and are looking for an awesome open mic to attend once all this is over, go to one of Jay’s open mics. It’s truly a family of musicians.
I also meet Vollie Ray from Vollie Ray’s Circus, who saw potential in me and gave me every Monday to do a jam session at his bar until I could find bandmates. Where I did.
Oscar Cavez, Drummer, Joey O’Leary, lead guitarist, Jeff Homer, Bassist and Adam Gonzales who plays, bass, guitar and drums.
I now have a band. The Gavin Sasser Band, that is until we come up with a cool name. I play with them When I’m not doing singer-songwriter showcase or acoustic events. My song Can’t Explain won 4th place in the Corpus Christi singer-songwriter showcase and just recently I won through The World Song Writing Awards “Best Song Young Adult Artist” Award for my song “Cant Explain”. My calendar had started to fill up with many opportunities until the recent world events. We where scheduled to play on 6th street in Austin! Me, and my band are looking forward to getting back out there and gaining all the ground lost. Learning to be creative and adapt to the world of online to share music at this time.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has Definitely not been easy. My dad has been disabled for 10 years having 9 back surgeries and more is recommended for the future. I mentioned the music I write is usually from life experience and is very personal to me. You can hear that in a song I wrote for my dad “ No One Cares”. I wrote it from the prospective of seeing someone in pain and wanting to take that pain away from them but you can’t. My mom has always been a stay at home and had to go back to work and she did for a few years before she found out she had some health issues and now she is disabled. So my brother Jaden who is 17 and myself got a job at Rasin Canes to help out. Our boss Houston is really a awesome supportive boss. He allows me to work weekdays so I can have week nights and weekends off for gigs. Even now he has allowed me and my brother to put our jobs on hold because my dad, mom and I all have underlying health issues and we have to limit our contact with the world at this time so we don’t get sick. He is holding our jobs but things are really hard on us right now. I have two other brothers Jordan 13 and Avin who is 9. But we make it work. We take care of each other. Times are hard for everyone right now. And like all other artists my gigs that help bay bills have been canceled too. Things have definitely not been smooth.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I started off in the church. I love worship music. I love the build up worship music tends to have like Jesus Culture and Elevation Worship. My musical influences are Dashboard Confessionals, The Neighborhood, The Killers and recently Inhaler. The music I write usually is from real life experiences. It’s very personal to me.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I believe things happen for a reason. Life has a way of molding you into who your supposed to be. So Would I go back and do anything differently? No. I wouldn’t. Nothing is wasted.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2323 West Bay Area Blvd
Webster TX 77598 - Phone: 346-812-8570
- Email: sassers116@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artistgavinsasser/
- Other: https://www.reverbnation.com/gavinsasser
Image Credit:
NC Photography
And
April Sasser
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