GNA CAMPUS – At Greater Nanticoke Area, a large percentage of the student body has been gifted with many amazing talents. One of them, Gabe Josefowicz, a senior, is a super-talented and accomplished guitar player. His guitar-playing skills were put on full display at this year’s homecoming game when Gabe played his rendition of the National Anthem on the guitar. His performance echoed throughout the stadium and stunned all in attendance.

The GNA Insider caught up with Gabe and asked him some questions about his music skills:

How many years have you been playing music?                                                                                                         

I have been playing music for nine years – since I was eight years old.

Who are your musical influences?                                                                                                                          

When I first began playing, my musical influences were Slash of Guns and Roses, Angus Young of AC/DC, and Tony Iomi of Black Sabbath. Now as I have gotten older my influences have grown. I try to listen to musicians in different genres all across the board. I’ve really grown fond of Dave Mustaine, Joe Bonamassa, and Randy Roads in recent times. Plus I am influenced by more than just the guitarists in the music scene. I like to look at artists as a whole, whether that be in the band or the solo artist region. 

Why Music?

As a child, I would always see videos of bands playing for large crowds and everyone being very involved in the audience. But it was more than that. As a kid, I could never put it into words. It’s about the connection music makes between people and brings everyone that has different paths in life, different ambitions, different goals. They could all come together and rock out or sing the same words as everyone else in a song. Truly it’s beautiful and that’s to put it lightly. As I get older, it keeps getting better and better. I can’t even begin to tell you all the relationships that have come out of being involved in music and the scene. 

So even if I never get to play the biggest stages in the world, I’m glad I get to do something that brings people together and makes them happy. I always say if I can connect while being on stage, that’s all that matters. Whether it be to five people, five hundred people, or five thousand, if I can connect with someone my job as an artist or musician is done.

What’s the most interesting thing about playing the guitar?

To my knowledge playing a string instrument is far different from playing any other form or type of instrument whether that be brass, woodwind, the xylophone, the flute, and all instruments in those categories. I am sure that this applies to all string instruments. When you play a note on an instrument such as the piano it just rings out.  Now if you play a note on a string instrument it gives you the ability to be able to bend the string to a different note. You can’t do that on non-string instruments.

How long did it take you to learn the first song you were taught to play?

The first lesson I ever took I learned how to play my first song. Definitely not how the song is actually played, but I was able to play the root notes of the chord progression.

What was the first song you learned to play? 

The first song I ever learned how to play was “T.N.T” by AC/DC.

Can you give us a quick rig rundown? 

This is my current setup for when I play live:

Amp: Orange Dual Terror 

Speaker cab: Single speaker cab with a Celestion Vintage 30, 12 inch, 60 watts, and 8 Ohms 

Pedalboard left to right:

Digitech Whammy DT

Third Man Plasma Coil 

Behringer Vintage Tube Overdrive 

Jimi Hendrix Mini Crybaby

Donner Tuner Pedal 

Guitars:

ESP E-II Eclipse 2014 Tobacco Sunburst with Fishman Fluence Modern Pickups 

ESP LTD Viper-1000 FM 2000 Black Transparent