Gary Mazzola: Singer, Songwriter, Poet. By Jon Hammond

Gary Mazzola is a talented Tehachapi songwriter with an exceptional voice and a gift for writing lyrical, approachable songs about life and love. His bright, accomplished guitar melodies are well-suited to his tasteful style of playing and he is a very competent keyboard player as well.

Gary has played with many talented musicians during his long musical journey and honed his craft in numerous band incarnations since his father gave Gary his first real guitar when he was just 13 years old. While in the band Full Moon, Gary lent his clear bard’s voice to three-part harmonies with Joy Gray and Seth Houston, and continued that same vocal tradition in later versions of Full Moon that included masterful guitar player Jerry Mulkins, bassist Ruben Flores and Bruce Milburn on drums.

While Gary has been a professional musician for many years, his career has been largely in media and television, having been a cameraman and producer/director for television news programs, special productions, commercials and even a live country music show that aired on KERO 23 TV in Bakersfield.

A veteran of community theater as well, Gary has been in many plays and theatrical performances both in front of and behind the curtain. He is a longtime member and performer with the Tehachapi Community Theater. He is the entertainment manager and webmaster at the musically diverse Mama Hillybean’s Café on East Tehachapi Boulevard.

A 20-year resident of Tehachapi, Gary is now in full songwriting mode and has never been more productive musically. He performs solo as well as backed by a few friends he assembled into a band called Acoustic Planet. The sound is pure acoustic, with guitar, stand-up bass, harmonica and hand drums and features Gary’s new songs that are often observational and sometimes introspective but generally upbeat and memorable.

“For a long time I was afraid to express myself fully, out of concern that it would be perceived as too personal or intimate or even stupid,” Gary explains. “Now I just write what I write and I don’t care about those concerns. Creativity moves through us rather than from us. I’m now in the “Third eye open” part of my life: I have a great girlfriend, I’m writing better and more meaningful songs than ever, and I feel more comfortable than I have in years. This is the best time of my life.”