TROUBADOR AMERICANA
A little something about...
Gerry Arias is an international recording artist & singer-songwriter who performs overseas, and the Americas. His latest release "On Holiday," was recorded in Ireland and Costa Rica with the help of musicians and producers from each country respectively.
Gerry also plays regularly at the Mountain House Tavern in Branchville, NJ; The Hard Swallow, NYC; Krogh's in Sparta, NJ; and The Dimmick Inn in Milford, PA. His music, live performances, past /present show information, and social media links can all be found on this website.
As a multi-instrumentalist Gerry has recorded on many albums and has performed live with Natalie Merchant, Sting, The Ramones, Dina Regine, Muzz Skillings (Living Color), Dope Sagittarius and Los Mas Valientes.
Gerry was also the house drummer for 5 years at Showplace Studios in Dover, NJ working with Grammy Award winning producer Ben Elliot (deceased). With Ben, Gerry recorded drums for many established, as well as, up and coming national blues acts, many of who are still active today.
He is also a founding member of local (NYC) area bands: Voice of the Turtle, Electro Fetus, Brother Earth and Sabbados. Gerry is the writer and central performer on the albums: Brother Earth’s EP, The Mixed Signals, and Lost & Found; Sabbados “K-Lo-Watt,” and “On Holiday” by Gerry Arias.
All these projects are currently on Spotify and all major streams.
These days Gerry spends a lot of time working on his "hybrid" Americana guitar technique and recording new material at home in between a busy tour schedule. For more biographical details click on the button below marked "click for more biographical information," but get a snack first. Cheers Yawl!
Photo by Maria German ©️2023
Warren County, NJ
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A Musical Journey
A Brief Biography
1991-2006: As a percussionist, Gerry has traveled, performed and or recorded with many great artists including Natalie Merchant (10, 000 Maniacs), Sting (The Police), Dina Regine (first two solo records), Johnny Cuomo (Ireland, VOT) and Los Mas Valientes (Female heavy Newyorican Latin Jazz). Gerry has played every big room in NYC: CBGB's, The Continental, Don Hill's, The Kat Club, Knitting Factory, Bowery Ballroom, Bowery Electric...many of these classic clubs no longer exist. These days you can catch Gerry live in NYC at The Hard Swallow dive bar in the Lower East Side on Tuesday Night: "Frank Wood Presents: Gritty Tuesdays." Gerry has also performed at Jones Beach Theatre and the PNC Arts Centers on timbales with Natalie Merchant.
2007-2011: Gerry was also the house drummer at the world renowned Showplace Studios in Dover, New Jersey during the original launch of American Showplace Records and he is featured on many recordings with the up & coming artists of that time. During this tenure, Gerry also recorded three albums with Grammy Award winning producer Ben Elliot at Showplace Studios under the Brother Earth moniker that featured Andre Worrell, the lead singer of Mephiskapheles, on bass, and Monk Americana (Band Droidz, The Veldt) on Electric Guitar, and Therlin "Money Earnin" V. James on Electric Guitar (after Monk went on tour with The Veldt). Gerry composed the majority on these tunes and sang live while playing drums. You can hear Brother Earth's music on all major streams. Look for the Albums, "The Mixed Signals" and "Lost & Found" to make sure it's the right band.
2011-2020: Family life, accomplishments in STEM, FAPA & Esports, and a "return" to live music.
As an Electronic Gaming Coach, Gerry founded Union City High School’s Award Winning & now 2023 2x State Championship High School Esports program. For two consecutive years, Gerry was invited to the Research Teacher’s Conference sponsored by Regeneron and held in Washington, D.C.
He holds a Master’s in Educational Administration, plus 30 graduate credits in educational technology, and a B.A. in Special Education. Gerry also holds 4 New Jersey teaching licenses. While a doctoral candidate at NJCU, Gerry postponed further study to focus more on the merging of his passions for live music performance and electronic gaming.
2020-2021: During the pandemic Gerry grew exhausted of working indoors (18 hours of screen time per day) and he began performing live again at outdoor concerts (cold, rain or shine) hosted by the Get Juiced Bar in Sussex Borough, mainly as a solo acoustic act. Ultimately he was joined by upstate New York drummer Hektor Bee who is a well regarded percussionist himself. Together they formed a duo called Sabbados and played a lot of shows in Woodstock, NY and the tristate area, including an appearance at the first Latin Punk Festival held in Philadelphia, PA. During the winter of 2021 the Covid surge had most folks go back indoors, but Gerry still played gigs in NYC at The Hard Swallow as a "Solo Sabbados Set." He also began recording new songs in 2021 at The Creamery Studios in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Gerry grew up in Cypress Hills Brooklyn and felt connected to the atmosphere and the engineering style of Quinn McCartney. Their collaboration produced interpretations of "American Girl" by Tom Petty and "Working Class Hero" by John Lennon.
2022: With the recording bug fully embedded, and several solo appearances later, Gerry embarked on a musical journey. In April of 2022, Gerry visited the West Coast of Ireland to record two new songs.
"On Holiday" was mixed and engineered by Robert Wedgbury at Wild Way Recording in Moughna, Ireland and "Jane S. Paddy" was mixed and engineered by Quentin Cowper of Violvetine. Quentin also played acoustic guitar and slide, and the song features a haunting performance by Neil Fitz on Fiddle. Both songs feature Brian Flemming on Irish bodhran & Latin Percussion. Next was Costa Rica, where Gerry recorded "You and I." For more track information on these songs and more, visit Gerry's Bandcamp page. At Bandcamp, artists get paid directly for any music that is purchased through download, gift, and donations.
With the help of his partner, promoter, and part-time percussionist (Coach) Maria German, Gerry played 51 shows in 2022 and traveled as far down as South Carolina.
2023: Maria and Gerry are welcoming a Baby Arias into this wild world of ours in the Fall, but it just hasn't slowed them down much. Catch Gerry live as regular performer for top clients like: The Dimmick Inn, Milford, PA; The Mountain House Tavern, Branchville, NJ; The Hard Swallow, NYC; The Greeks, Andover, NJ, Station Bar and Curio, Woodstock, NY; and Krogh's in Sparta, NJ.
Next up: Gerry has new songs in the works and plans to have an album out this later this year on Latin Punk Records!
51 @ 50: 2022
The following are "On Holiday" 2022 Tour Dates:
- Jan 18: The Hard Swallow (LES, NYC)
- Jan 22: Rony’s Rockin’ Grill (Bergenfield, NJ)
- Feb 12: Rony’s Rockin’ Grill (Bergenfield, NJ)
- Mar 03: Paddy Reilly’s Music Bar (Murray Hill, NYC)
- Mar 06: St. Pats for All Parade (Sunnyside, Queens)
- Mar 15: The Hard Swallow (LES, NYC)
- Apr 07: Yellow Submarine Corofin (Ireland)
- May 06: Latin Punk Festival @ The Pharmacy (Philadelphia, PA)
- May 07: Latin Punk Festival @ Greenspace Studios (Union City, NJ)
- May 08: Latin Punk Festival @ The Windjammer (Ridgewood, Queens)
- May 30: Rockwood Music Hall (NYC)
- Jun 02: Brooklyn Bowl w/Qlebras (Philadelphia, PA)
- Jun 03: Krogh’s Restaurant & Brew Pub (Sparta, NJ)
- Jun 12: The Pharmacy (Philadelphia, PA)
- Jun 21: The Hard Swallow (LES, NYC)
- Jun 26: Dimmick Inn (Milford, PA)
- Jul 01: Dimmick Inn (Milford, PA)
- Jul 02: Amphitheater (Sussex County Library, NJ)
- Jul 04: Bushwick Rooftop Party w/ Qlebras (Brooklyn, NY)
- Jul 06: Caffeine Underground (Brooklyn, NY)
- Jul 08: Station Bar and Curio (Woodstock, NY)
- Jul 10: The Windjammer (Queens, NYC)
- Jul 12: The Hard Swallow (LES, NYC)
- Jul 15: Firewaters Saloon/Tropicana (Atlantic City, NJ)
- Jul 16: BBS Records (Bergenfield, NJ)
- Jul 21: The Parish (New Paltz, NY)
- Jul 22: Flavor Fest 2022 (Walden, NY)
- Jul 23: Mountain House Tavern (Branchville, NJ)
- Jul 29: Milford Dairy Bar (Milford, PA)
- Jul 30: Dimmick Inn (Milford, PA)
- Aug 03: Pine Lakes Tavern (Myrtle Beach, SC)
- Aug 04: Hurricanes (Myrtle, Beach, SC)
- Aug 07: “Kipp’s 65th” at the Parkside Lounge (NYC)
- Aug 09: The Hard Swallow (LES, NYC)
- Aug 13: Carambia Carnival (solo, Frank Wood All Stars)
- Aug 16: Snug Harbor w/ Sabbados (New Paltz, NY)
- Aug 20: Dimmick Inn (Milford, PA)
- Aug 28: Ukie Club w/ Qlebras (Philadephia, PA)
- Aug 31: Woodstock Farm Festival (Woodstock, NY)
- Sep 2: Mountain House Tavern (Branchville, NJ)
- Sep 9: Dimmink Inn (Milford, PA)
- Sep 20: The Hard Swallow (LES, NYC)
- Sep 23: Krogh’s Restaurant & Brew Pub (Sparta, NJ)
- Oct 4: The Hard Swallow (LES, NYC)
- Oct 6: Speakeasy Motors Whiskey Co Tasting Room at Gardiner Liquid Mercantile Farm Distillery w/ Sabbados (Pine Bush, NY)
- Oct 7: The Greeks (Andover, NJ)
- Oct 8: Speakeasy Motors Open House w Sabbados (Wallkill, NY)
- Oct 23: “The Jaded Lover’s Sunday Salon” @ Putnam’s Pub & Cooker (Williamsburg, Brooklyn) w/ Honeychild Coleman
- Nov 10: Firewaters Saloon in the Tropicana (A.C., NJ)
- Nov 11: Firewaters Saloon in the Tropicana (A.C., NJ)
- Nov 18: Mountain House Tavern (Branchville, NJ)
- Dec: Family Time..."On Holiday!"
See Gerry live in support of his latest release, "On Holiday."
Available on all major streams and directly on Bandcamp.