Since my last post, life has been a whirlwind…San Diego Music Festival, great shows, killer panels and learning going on…but the thing I have taken most to heart is how the value of family continues to rise as I grow older…and I’m amazed at how music has played such a huge part in this.

Today is my birthday, and it’s one I’ll never forget. This week, my wife and I lost a baby; it would have been our 2nd child. After an emergency surgery, Melissa had a dangerous drop in blood pressure and we have been in the hospital with 911 calls, ambulance rides, and literal on-the-brink-of-death moments that have made me weep, lose hope, made me question all I do, and feel as alone as I could ever feel.

Through all of my fear and moments of devastation, I have been filled with a deeper appreciation for family that makes all other things in this life insignificant and meaningless in comparison…and I don’t just mean “blood” family. 

If you know me at all, you’ll know that I put a value on family that I refuse to compromise on, and I don’t believe in a “blood is thicker than water” ideology. Family, to me, is made up of honest, deep, committed relationships where the members care about each other beyond function, are unselfish, and who will stand by and love each other through the hardest moments that include conflict with one another. I am willing to and have walked away from my own relatives at times to remain committed to my real relationships, and I hope this is my lasting legacy…that I will be remembered as a man that was genuine and always committed to relationships until the end or until the other individual chooses to walk away. I will never quit loving.

I cannot express how blessed I have been through this time by my family…all of you who have supported, prayed, and given of yourselves for Melissa, Jael, and I. I have been further convinced that music has given me yet more gifts in the form of loving and supportive friends and I am filled with the hope that whether this music thing goes as big as I think it will or not, I will have the family that I have met and connected with for the rest of my life, and that’s more important than the music or the business.

Love to all,

Gabe for Melissa and Jael