Today we’d like to introduce you to David Gomez.
David, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started really young in music learning a lot of hand percussion instruments that my father would have around the house. Later on, when I was 6, he gave me my first guitar lesson. Guitar became my favorite thing to play and for a while my only instrument. When I was 12, I was offered the opportunity to start learning saxophone. I started playing in band and completely fell in love with the instrument. I was always surrounded by music growing up with many different styles. Fast forward to high school, I kept involved in music and in sports. After high school, I got a scholarship to come study music in Missouri at Lindenwood University that had a really good music program with great professors. I started to write a lot while I was in college and put my own quartet together getting a few gigs and even won a spot on the “Old Webster Jazz and Blues Festival.” I finished my four years of college, but in my last semester, I started to gig a lot with a band called Miss Jubilee. We were gigging 5-7 times a week. It was great because it allowed me to start making good money and live full time from music. I was spending so many hours practicing and playing. It allowed me to develop as a musician. I also started to get a bunch of calls of other local musicians to play gigs with them, so my calendar locally was really full. After half a year playing with them and a couple of Chicago runs, I got scouted while playing a small gig and got asked to go on a tour with a singer/songwriter from Rochester, NY, Jessica Wilkes. We would tour from NY to Florida; I was constantly on the road. That also allowed me the opportunity to expand my network in bigger cities without having to move. I started to get calls from bands in Chicago that would fly me out to play gigs. I was still semi-active with Miss Jubilee, but there was a time I could not be around that much so I had to leave that band for good, only having a few calls whenever they needed a sub. While touring with Jessica, I got scouted again but this time by a band from Texas, who was getting ready to do a couple of theater shows. I started playing with them, and little by little my year was divided playing with a few bands out of town keeping me on the road a lot. I kept doing that for a few years until I met Tonina when she moved back to St. Louis. I was busy at the time so I did not get to join her band until mid-2018, and we started to get really busy. By the end of 2018 we were selling out any room in St. Louis and the band was sounding amazing. We started to work on the St. Lost album where I was able to co-write a tune with Tonina that we named “Esperanza”. By the beginning of 2019, we were getting offers from Argentina, Colombia, and many countries in Europe. That year we went to Europe three times and one time to Argentina where the crowd gave us a soccer chant ovation; it felt unreal. I kept writing and while on tour in 2019, we started choosing the songs for the next album.
While in Europe, I hopped on the piano and showed the band a tune I have written but did not have any lyrics for. The band helped me out arranging “Papaya” and Tonina and I finished the lyrics on the Uber on our way to the studio. We got to record “Papaya” at Empire HQs studios. The pandemic hit and at the time I was Tonina’s roommate. One day I showed her a couple of songs I had written on guitar back in college and she immediately came up with a hook. Right there, we had our two new singles. Later on, we got into the studio with the rest of the band (Jackson Stokes on guitar and Keith Bowman on drums) Nowadays we have recorded more new songs, including “Ruben”, a single that I wrote the guitar parts and melody after watching a documentary on Latin American gangs that really moved me.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I can say that for most of my years it has been smooth. I have been really lucky to get better and better opportunities each year. Of course, there was the few occasion that a tour or gig was about done and I was not sure what my next move was. Somehow it always worked out and I would get either really busy in town, or a new tour would appear. The pandemic was definitely a struggle year but I was able to manage and grow as an artist.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am known formerly as a sax player, but lately, I have been more of a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and songwriter. I have been the Music Director for Tonina’s band for almost 3 years now. What I am most proud of is that I just headlined my own show at Jazz St. Louis. The show was called “Una Noche en Panama” where I performed my compositions that were heavily influenced by my home country, Panama. It was a milestone for me since I watched all my heroes performed on the stage since I moved to St. Louis in 2010. What sets me apart is that I am the only Panamanian musician in St. Louis.
What does success mean to you?
To feel that you have reached a goal, a milestone, and that you have grown while doing it.
Contact Info:
- Email: davidgomez9089@gmail.com
- Instagram: @david.david.music
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daviddepanama/
- Twitter: daviddotmusic
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0wftADsABd16VhFco35mSe
Image Credits
Phil Hamer
