Press
Life in Harmony – The Belleville Telescope
Scandia Musician Finds Hometown Offers
Right Blend of Career, Family, Lifestyle
By Deb Hadachek
Telescope Editor
When he graduated from Kansas State University in 2002, Jared “Pete” Gile chose a career path he’s still following today. “I decided to take six months off to see if I could make a living making music,” Gile says. “At the end of six months, I would know whether it was possible, or at least I could say I tried.” That road led Gile back home. Ten years later, he is settled in his hometown of Scandia, married, a father–and still making a living with his voice and a guitar. “I’m just totally in love with this part of the world,” Gile says. His bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology gives a clue to his love of rural life. “If I were somewhere where there were no hunting and fishing—I would lose the parts of my life that have kept me sane. “As far being an independent musician, this is not a bad part of the world to be in, either,” he says. “In places like Austin and Nashville, people like me are a dime a dozen. In some of places where I play here, I’m the only thing going on in town that evening. “Out here, I can make music, and I can make a living at it.”
Music and Life
Gile will play 100 shows a year, featuring original songs he’s written like 580 130 RD and Middle of the Midwest and In Between College and Kids, as well as covers by popular musicians. What people see–the three and four hour performances–are only part of the job. Behind the scenes, there’s marketing, learning new technologies, writing new songs, and planning new shows. He’s added equipment like electronic drums and a vocal harmonizer that allow a solo singer to sound like a group. During shows, he intersperses songs with story telling and humor. “I’ve been working to add a wider variety of material so it feels more like a show, instead of one guy and one guitar,” he says. He can expand his live music for longer events, like wedding receptions, as an emcee and disc jockey. Gile records his CDs at a studio in Texas, and plans to make a music video in the future. With the expertise of Jenny Russell and Luke Mahin of JenRus Freelance, Courtland, he’s expanded how he uses his website (www.jaredpetegile.com), social media and YouTube to market his business. “Social media and YouTube are huge opportunities for independent musicians,” he says. Since most of his gigs are at night, Gile has pursued various day jobs–including carpentry, taxidermy, and in recent years, furniture making, using skills with Osage Orange (hedge) he and his dad, Duane, learned from Bud Hanzlick, Belleville. “I was doing shows when Haley (his wife, a school teacher) and I met, so this has always been a normal lifestyle for us,” he says. Their family has grown to include son, Bridger, 2. “There are other jobs, like truck driving, that also require families to adapt to unusual hours. “In this economy, I’m happy to pay the bills any way I can.”
Varied Experiences
Having 10 years experience in the music business under his belt provides Gile with important perspective on how to blend his career in a rapidly changing industry. He has little formal music training, outside of a few months of lessons with Steve Hanson music in Salina. Mostly, he and his brother, Kade, learned music from their dad and grandfather. He played off and on by himself and in garage bands in high school and college. Early in his career, Gile formed a cover band, and the group took off for Texas and Oklahoma, “where there’s lots of opportunities for independent musicians,” he says. When a motorcycle accident sidelined two members of the group in the middle of a full schedule of performances, Gile decided to return to a solo act. “With my writing style, the natural progression for me was to go back to performing by myself,” he says. “It seems the easiest to manage, and it fits what I do the best.”
Changing Industry
While some of the ways people buy music in the last decade have been a benefit to independent musicians like Gile, he says the changes also make it harder for an independent singer/songwriter to break into the industry on a large scale. “There’s only a handful of major music labels today, and most have in-house songwriters,” he says. “iTunes has changed the music industry a lot.” Few people buy entire albums of songs these days, Gile says. Most download their favorites on the internet–for 99-cents apiece—from iTunes. Gile makes his songs available as individual downloads, as well as extended play tracks of three or four songs.”
Furniture Making
Gile finds ways of tying his sideline business of making furniture from Osage Orange into his music career. One of his recent CD covers features him playing a guitar at a pub table he created. The craft of making furniture from hedge is one Gile and his dad hope to carry on from Hanzlick, Belleville, “who is the master”, he says. Hanzlick, now retired, became known across the US for the Osage Orange pieces he made. But the economy has affected the demand for all handcrafted one of-a-kind items. The Giles’ furniture is marketed mostly word-of mouth from customers who have seen it in use at TAGS in Scandia, or Jensik Insurance in Belleville, and through their website www.fencepostfurniture.com “We made a trip this year to test the market in Colorado, where we believed the demand for this type of rustic furniture would be greater,” he said. “Right now, we’ve found that people don’t have a lot of extra money to buy a piece that requires so many hours of labor.” The time required to build pieces from hedge, however, give him an opportunity to mull lyrics for new songs. Gile will write five to 10 original songs each year. “A lot of songwriting is about where you grew up and where you live,” he says. “You write what you know. “Right now, I don’t see myself ever moving just for my music career,” he says. “There are too many other things in life that are important to me.”
Reviews
Pete was the entertainment for our bank’s farmer/rancher appreciation event and he was outstanding. He is a talented songwriter, singer, and musician. Pete does a nice job of interacting with the crowd and performed several entertaining songs that he wrote based upon his experiences of growing up in rural Kansas. He also does a great job on the songs from the good ole’ boys of country music such as Hank, Merle, Waylon and Willie. We received a lot of positive comments from our customers and we definitely recommend Pete Gile to anyone looking for quality country music entertainment.
Kent Buer
President
First Bank Kansas
Pete was the entertainment at one of our events during the national greyhound gathering in Abilene. Just took minutes before he had the crowded riveted and in the palm of his hand. Smiles were everywhere and toes were tapping. Had more comments afterward on how great he was than for any previous entertainment. He’s the best!
Gary Guccione
Executive Director
National Greyhound Association
