Goodbye Gavan

Gavan
October 24, 2015 Jeremiah Craig 0 Comments

A few weeks ago I was at an open mic in West Seattle and I got to talking about the Phoenix music scene with someone who had moved up to Seattle from Arizona, like I just did, five years ago. He hadn’t been part of the scene when he lived in Phoenix but he was surprised when I told him the music scene in Phoenix is one of the most supportive and genuine scenes I’ve ever been apart of or heard about. Especially for original music. But this week, Phoenix lost one of the great musicians that helped make the scene so incredible.

Gavan Wieser will be missed. I mentioned him in the conversation I had as an example of the amazing support in Arizona for music. He was one of the first musicians I met when I moved to Phoenix 4 years ago and he was so supportive of the Arizona music community as a whole. You could find him at almost any music event throughout the state from the Flagstaff Folk Festival to Arizona Songwriter events to open mics in the valley. He had an incredible arsenal of songs that could make you laugh no matter how many times you heard them before. Especially one called “The Fish Song”.

Gavan did so much to help me in the Phoenix music scene just like I know he helped and supported many others. He introduced me to other musicians, publishers and I even heard from others that he talked to a few people to get me to headline certain shows. He never told me he did this, I found out through the grapevine and it meant a ton when I heard. To know someone who will do so much for you in the music industry is rare and I was very moved when I found out that he did more for me than I knew.

So I was pretty excited to get the chance to see him again while on tour next month. I knew his health was declining and he told me that he was undergoing a procedure back in February but he didn’t seem too concerned about it. He was always a pretty positive dude whenever I talked to him. Unfortunately I won’t get the chance to see him now.

Being a young musician can get pretty stressful sometimes, with promoting, recording, writing, online marketing, social media and everything else. Especially if you’re trying to make a go out of doing it full time. But being around Gavan helped me remember why I’m following this path. It’s always about the music to him. The joy he got out of it and the joy he can impart to others with it. That’s what it’s all about and I’ll never come close to forgetting it again. I’m so glad that I got to know him. Thanks for everything, Gavan. See ya in another life.