Andrew Gabbard // The Eisenberg Review Interview
Andrew Gabbard plays the long game. For more than two decades, the Dayton, Ohio native has been a constant—if quietly underrated—presence in the Midwest rock and roll ecosystem. Cutting his teeth with the garage-scorched Thee Shams, co-founding Buffalo Killers, and logging time as a touring and studio musician for the Black Keys and Neal Francis, Gabbard has built a reputation on soulful vocals, fuzzed-out riffs, and a gift for sticky melodies. His solo work reveals a deeper, more introspective thread, starting with the homespun intimacy of 2021’s Homegrown, continuing through the warmly twanged Americana tribute to his mother Cedar City Sweetheart, and culminating, for now, in 2024’s Ramble & Rave On!: a full-throated rock record with a T. Rex strut, Big Star sparkle, and a Stonesy looseness that feels both lived-in and electric. His latest EP & On! gathers outtakes from those sessions, offering a looser companion piece that captures Gabbard in full stride—loose, loud, and joyously uninhibited.
In our conversation, we talk through the arc of his solo journey and its many detours: his deep affection for writing about food, the cosmic influence of The White Album, his recent recording sessions with Mae Powell at Portage Lodge, and the unlikely night the Black Keys rolled into Akron with an order of 40 Swenson’s cheeseburgers in tow. It’s a conversation that, much like Gabbard’s music, drifts easily from heartfelt to hilarious—grounded in Ohio roots, but always chasing something universal.