Originally from Long Island, New York, Ave Gart (Ave - pronounced as in Dave) was bitten by the music bug early on. “As soon as I heard the Beatles, I wanted to take guitar lessons. I was six years old and remember looking through the phone book to find a guitar teacher,” he says. He put together a basement band and began recording original material on a four-track tape deck. After years of gigging and many notebooks full of lyrics and chord changes, Gart moved to Los Angeles where he finished his studies at the UCLA Medical Center and continued writing and recording new material.

 

His first EP is a country-flavored collection of original songs he both wrote and produced. The EP includes such tracks as “Just For A Night,” a romantic slow dance in the dreamy tradition of Chris Isaak. The poignant “Daddy’s Arms,” an emotional ode to his young daughter that recalls the best of Harry Chapin. And the Glen Campbell-like “The Way You Say Goodbye.” There’s also the humorous “Quinoa & Kale,” a fiddle-driven toe tapper that would fit right in with the best of Jimmy Buffett! Also, in the same vein, is the John Prine-like “Tax-Free Weed,” which would be at home in any Willie Nelson setlist! The music is a rich, earthy brew of Americana, bluegrass, blues and a dash of western swing.

 

Some of the band members include the multi-instrumentalist Bruce Hoffman, Herlin Riley who is a member of the Lincoln Jazz Orchestra in New York is featured playing drums on “Tax-Free Weed” and Greg Leisz, who plays pedal steel on “Daddy’s Arms” and currently tours with Jackson Browne!

 

Gart says of his time as a doctor at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, “My colleagues knew I was also a musician and so I was referred many patients who were considered to be music royalty. But I really can't mention any names as I'd be violating the doctor-patient relationship!"

 

Michael Glynn - Los Angeles Times