Gabriel Cox plays guitar in the studio. Cox had scheduled a Keizer concert this weekend, but it has been canceled over weather concerns.
Local singer/songwriter, Gabriel Cox, was getting ready to release his third self-produced album, Junior, during a live performance at Keizer Rapids Park on Sept. 14. Unfortunately, concerns over inclement weather have scrapped the plan.
Cox has rescheduled the concert for Oct. 5 at Salem Armory.
Junior is an acoustic album that was originally written for Cox’s children, Katie, 15, and Caleb, 13. He didn’t plan to make it into an album for wide release, but his wife, Julia, convinced him otherwise.
“I feel like the writing is my best work yet,” Cox said.
Though he previously released two albums, Junior has been a long time in the making.
“I’ve been playing and writing these songs around my house for the last five years or so, since my kids were little,” Cox said.
It has been three years since Cox released his last album I Surrender, which was nominated for Best Self-Produced Album of 2016 by The Blues Foundation. Before that, in 2014, he released his debut album titled Gabriel Cox.
Cox is also a three-time Muddy Award nominee – the Muddy Awards honor local blues musicians in the Portland area.
“My previous records are a lot heavier, but this album shows people another side of me that I don’t share very often,” Cox said.
The production of the new album took collaboration from several artists.
“All of these talented individuals were an absolute blast to work with, and most are from the Salem/Keizer area. It’s incredible to see how much talent we have right here in our own backyard,” Cox said.
His favorite part of producing this time around was working with all the people who made it happen; including John Pulvers, a family friend and lead singer of KALiCO, the band that was slated to open for Cox at his Keizer performance.
Cox and Pulvers often play music together in their spare time. Pulvers walked away from music for a time prior to the planned Keizer concert because he had lost the joy in it. After people that were close to him and his daughter passed away, he decided to pick it up again.
“We both learned that life is so short,” Pulvers said, “It’s been nice to play again. I want to do this for my family and most importantly for her.”
Junior will be available for download on the Sept. 14 and will, eventually, be available for streaming services.