EP #119 GARY ALEXANDER-MAKE FRIENDS

Gary Alexander cut his teeth in music by listening to his father’s records (Charles Alexander & The Carolina Five) on local jukeboxes around South Carolina. At 11 years old his personal journey in music began on 2 strings on a guitar he bought for 12$. “I couldn’t play chords because I only had 2 strings and well, because I did not know any. So I figured out how to tune the 2 strings to an open chord. I began writing songs straight away”. At 15 after the death of his mother Gary found himself living alone. He packed a bag and headed to Myrtle Beach SC. After struggling on the streets and sleeping on Ocean Blvd. Gary began to rise above the adversity. He soon began working for Country music stars Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers. Larry was a source of learning and inspiration for Gary and the term ‘Songsmith” began to take real meaning. Performance and the writing began to be two separate crafts. At the advice of Larry, Gary took a job with the legendary ‘Opryland” company performing in San Antonio. After a year of being exposed to and absorbing the Texas music sound Gary headed to Nashville TN to record his first demos at the Gatlin Brothers studio. With a 4 song Demo in Hand Gary decided to get back to his roots and moved back to Myrtle Beach. The demo began to make it to the airwaves of radio stations in Charleston, Greenville, Myrtle Beach, and Columbia SC. While performing in the night club circuit Gary began to perform as the comedian at Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede. Myrtle Beach was on the rise musically with the insurgence of Country Music stars opening theaters. Gary began to perform as Emcee for the National TV and Radio show “Crook & Chase”. In 2001 Gary was in need of change and inspiration. He caught a plane to Italy and boarded a cruise ship to perform for Celebrity Cruise lines. 9-11 occurred while Gary was in Greece. Being so far from home and away from everything familiar He began to write new material. An E.P. of this material was recorded in Brooklyn NY that unfortunately would never see the light of day. 2002 came and a random phone call brought Gary to Vegas for the next 11 years. After performing on the Vegas strip in show rooms Gary began to work in a new professional direction. Mixed Martial Arts (UFC) was exploding and Gary found himself in the fight capital of the world. Gary hosted an independent Online On Demand radio show called “The Ultimate Podcast”. This propelled Gary into the heart of the sport. Fighters Only Magazine soon came calling and Gary became the US Operations manager for the launch of their North American Editions. Vegas weighed heavy on Gary and eventually the Ocean was calling and he once again found himself at home in Myrtle Beach S.C . with new songs, a new outlook, more life experience and focus than ever. The musical journey that began listening to his father’s records on jukeboxes now continues as Gary has come full circle and come to terms with his musical identity and embraced all muses that come his way. “In so many ways it’s like a parallel to THE ALCHEMIST by Paulo Cohelo. My story is about finding treasure that was always under my feet, no matter where I was standing”. https://music.apple.com/us/artist/gary-alexander/434096629. https://open.spotify.com/artist/4YPZnDn2jjE5pWReSUL45R?si=a-Yr5JVDTMGjdbheimGaiQ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/kelly-cardenas/support