John-Robert/Gabe Goodman

When John-Robert left his Edinburg, Virginia, hometown for Los Angeles in 2019, he did so with starry-eyed ambition—a teenage songsmith bypassing a Berklee scholarship to chase his musical manifest destiny. It quickly materialized: Grammy-nominated producer Ricky Reed (Leon Bridges, Lizzo) signed him at age 19 to Nice Life/Warner Records, helping to integrate John-Robert’s lilting blend of traditional folk and Appalachian country into the modern pop landscape.

His debut single, 2019’s “Adeline,” has received 11 million streams. Collaborations and cosigns from the likes of Alessia Cara and Camila Cabello have further cemented him as a deeply auspicious writer on releases like 2020’s Bailey Barely Knew Me and 2021’s Healthy Baby Boy, Pt. 1. Now, on his new EP, Garden Snake, the artist hailed as “a small-town teen poised to become the next big singer-songwriter” by Live Nation’s Ones to Watch explores the pull of his past in a captivating five-song collection, which is bursting with the grassroots musicality of his Shenandoah Valley birthplace and the homespun purity of his earliest songwriting endeavors. 

Gabe Goodman is a producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles, California. Originally hailing from the suburbs of Boston, he got his first guitar at the age of five and immediately began writing songs and participating in local Guitarmageddon contests at Guitar Center. He was even a guest on Bill Cosby’s Kids Say the Darndest Things, performing some of his original work, which Cosby referred to as “volcanic.”

Goodman’s compass always seemed to point towards the arts. After playing in bands in high school, he eventually left Brandeis University at age 20 to join 2010's synth-pop act Magic Man, walking out in the middle of a financial accounting final to embark on a summer tour supporting Panic! At the Disco—a sort of Jewish, early-Instagram-era twist on an Almost Famous-style tale. He would eventually move to New York, where he began releasing solo music in 2018 with his somber Dismissing the Gardener, and began working with longtime friend S. Holden Jaffe on his Del Water Gap project. Together, the pair wrote and produced “Ode To a Conversation Stuck in Your Throat,” which became a pandemic-era breakout hit. It was through his work with Del Water Gap that Goodman began to eye a career in production, going on to work with acts such as Maggie Rogers and helming projects for indie darlings such as Field Medic and Anjimile.

Though Goodman’s production and songwriting work has spanned genres, when he returned to his solo work, he retained a unique and vulnerable style. Much of his work directly addresses complicated family dynamics—watching his father’s car get repossessed in 2021’s “Grand Caravan,” or grappling with his mother’s growing dementia in the notable single “The Villain.” On his debut album, The Rock, Goodman aims to reflect on how those moments impact adult relationships. Throughout the LP’s 10 tracks, all coproduced alongside longtime collaborator Will G. Radin, Goodman opens up about being unable to accept and receive love, examining everything from anxious early text message exchanges to coping with PTSD. From within all the darkness, there is still a great deal of joy—the early John Mayer-leaning lead single, “The Rock,” features a buoyant horn section and a beer-cracking groove, while its B-side, “Magical Thinking,” uses a lush string arrangement to soundtrack a tender early love. It’s an album that showcases Goodman’s earnestness and curiosity, traits that have made him a natural companion to artists in Los Angeles' session scene. Though 2024 will see him contribute to a wide range of releases, The Rock offers a complete and unvarnished look at the man behind the boards.