Gabe was born and raised in the small farming town of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Gabe spent most of his adolescent life building adobe homes with his grandfather, brother, and cousins along the Rio Grande River. It was during this time that he started taking a true interest in music. Gabe remembers his grandfather dancing around the job site with a shovel, to a combination of traditional Mexican Rancheras and country music blaring from his cement spattered portable radio. Since those days, he dreamed of a day when his voice would be on the radio, and his grandfather could dance to his music. Awards and Radio Play: After hearing Gabe on a home-recorded tape, Allen and David Frizzell encouraged Gabe to participate in the Gibson Guitar Road to Nashville Championships at the First Annual Lefty Frizzell Day in Corsicana, Texas.
Gabe eagerly agreed and head out for Texas to compete against some of the nations finest. When the dust settled and local radio and television personalities tallied up the votes, Gabe was the clear winner! He was presented with an EJ-200 Epiphone Guitar, recording time, and an appearance on TNN Music City Tonight with Crook and Chase. While in the studio, Gabe decided to record a remake of Lefty Frizzells hit song, Love you a Thousand Ways. The twist was, that Gabe would make it an up tempo version, with bilingual lyrics! In order to accomplish this, Gabe brought in long-time friend and music icon Little Richie Johnson, who produced and promoted numerous hits with Farron Young, Willie Nelson, and George Jones. Little Richie called in top musicians from Nashville, and blended them with authentic mariachis from New Mexico.
This unique sound sent Gabes song charging up the international charts, and landed him his first top ten hit on the Independent Country charts. As a result of his rapid exposure and radio acceptance, Gabe was named Airplay International Male Rising Star at the King Eagle Radio Awards in Nashville, TN. Gabes single was heard in Denmark, Sweden, France, Australia, Germany and Spain. This marked the first time a Hispanic had ever won this award. Recently, Gabe was selected as the only country-act on the Hispanic Compilation CD The Chicano Alliance. This CD will target the Hispanic consumer and raise monies for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund. Gabe will be featured with such Spanish icons as Little Joe y La Familia, Malo, Tierra, and El Chicano.
