Gabe Morales

Gabriel Morales is a guitarist, vocalist, composer, and producer based out of Roanoke, Virginia and Oberlin, Ohio.

Given influences ranging from blues and rock to jazz and contemporary composition to Latin-American folk, the music Gabe creates eschews strict categorization. His music is rooted in the blues, but explores a wider harmonic and rhythmic palette and modern songwriting sensibilities. Accompanying his soulful guitar licks and driven vocals are themes often centered on division, personal conflict, longing, protest, and perseverance. Combining these elements, Morales delivers a performance that excites the audience and invites reflection.

Now 23 years old, Gabe has performed and recorded with numerous internationally acclaimed musicians and bands, such as Robert Cray (5-time Grammy winner), Snarky Puppy (4-time Grammy winners), Michael League, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Rodney Jones, Victor Wooten, Cory Henry, Lil’ John Roberts (George Benson, Janet Jackson), Ben Williams, Gerald Clayton, Robert “Sput” Searight, Lucy Woodward, Carla Canales, Becca Stevens, Nathan Schram, Julian Lage, Chris Eldridge (Punch Brothers), The Jamie McLean Band, Banda Magda, Darrel Scott, Malika Tirolien, and Matt Schofield, among others.

Gabe has also opened for artists such as the Robert Cray Band (Jefferson Center 2014, Harvester Performance Center 2017), The Wooten Brothers (with Jayna Brown), Tommy Castro and The Pain Killers, and Webb Wilder.

As a solo artist, Gabe has performed at festivals such as FloydFest, Virginia Wine Festival, Steppin' Out, Rooster Walk, and Down By The River to name a few. He has also performed at venues ranging from the Jefferson Center and the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, Virginia to Rockwood Music Hall and LaGuardia Performing Arts Center in NYC. In June of 2014, Gabe released his debut album, Gabe Morales and Friends, which was made possible by a grant from the Blue Ridge Blues Society.

Joining the Music Lab at Jefferson Center in 2010, he had the opportunity to meet, work with, and learn from countless renown musicians- experiences which shaped his perspective in his early years. In this environment, he also began developing his abilities as a recording engineer and producer.

In 2013, Gabe was a featured guest on Snarky Puppy’s live CD/DVD recording at the Jefferson Center: Snarky Puppy Family Dinner Vol. 1. He, along with Snarky Puppy, accompanied the twelve-year-old vocalist Jayna Brown. The same album was awarded a 2014 Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance for Snarky Puppy and Lalah Hathaway.

Through music and arts advocacy, Gabe has worked with non-for-profits and organizations such as The Canales Project, Music Lab at Jefferson Center, Education Through Music (New York), Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, Oberlin Center for the Arts, and Taubman Museum of Art.

Constantly seeking growth as a musician, Gabe studied under Bobby Ferrazza (Donald Byrd, Clark Terry), earning a B.M. in Jazz Guitar Performance in June 2022 from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio.