My newest album, "Speaking In Typos," is on all streaming services. Buy or stream:

If this is your first time on my site, I would suggest watching my official music videos on YouTube.  I have them organized by most popular and personal favorites.  

More about me, if you have time to read.  I started rapping in 1992, when my friend, BJ, told me to “kick a rap.” I told him I couldn't.  “Man, just kick a rap,” he insisted, so I freestyled for 30 seconds.  I memorized the rap, and it became my first song, “Inventor,” which is the last song on my first album, “Intro To My Mind,” which I self-released on January 11th, 1997, just 8 days before my 18th birthday.  I tried to open a business checking account before the album release, but I wasn't 18 yet, so the bank wouldn't let me do it.  I never did open a business checking account.

In the song, “Playing a Little Basketball,” I mentioned that “BJ told me to kick a rap," and that song is probably still my most popular, even though I did feel like a one-hit wonder in my hometown of Oxford, Ohio for awhile because of the locally viral, “Chillin' at the Papa," which I wrote as a Christmas present for my manager, Michelle, after I drew her name as her Secret Santa.  I had never intended on releasing that song, but I put it on my website as a free mp3 download for a few weeks, and some people at Miami University downloaded it and convinced me to actually release it, and it became my most popular song for a few years.  I learned to wait until the end of my set to perform the song because if I performed it earlier, people would request to hear the song again, loudly, while I was performing another song.  Then, I'd perform the song 2 or 3 times in a row at several shows.  That was in 2005.

When I released my first album, I hadn't planned on performing.  I just wanted to be a recording artist, and release songs, but I learned pretty quickly that I had to perform live to have any chance at actually selling the CDs I had made.  I'm very glad I did, as I have made countless connections and friends at my live shows, and explored places I would never have explored otherwise.  I've also met a copious amount of tremendously talented musicians.  I've even had someone tell me that he met his future wife at one of my house parties in Athens, Ohio, which is really freaking cool!  

In 1998, I performed live for the first time, and that performance was at a music store called CD World in Colerain (Cincinnati), Ohio.  A friend of mine did go with me and recorded the performance on the camcorder my dad carried around in the 1980s and 1990s. That thing was heavy, so I really appreciate her for putting it on her shoulder for 25 minutes.  I digitized the live performance of “Playing a Little Basketball.”  In 2003, I booked my first US tour.  I mailed my CD demo to 200 venues in order to book 9 shows, ranging from Jacksonville, FL to Pittsburgh, PA.  Jack Rabbit's, where I played in Jacksonville, is still open.  Nick's Fat City, in Pittsburgh, closed a long time ago.

Speaking of closed venues, I was set to perform at Elbo's in Dayton, Ohio in June of 2006.  I pulled up, and the door was locked.  The venue had apparently closed down, and I wasn't informed. It was the same day as my 10 year high school reunion, so it stands out a little in my mind for that reason.  I have performed in many venues that have since closed.  The independent music industry is tough, and any musicians that have toured for years have had similar experiences, I'm sure.  Elbo's was the home to a lot of fun Dayton shows before it closed.  Thankfully, Dayton has had some other great venues continue the tradition of live local music, including the Nite Owl, which has since become Blind Bob's.  It's home to some of my biggest fans, and coincidentally, the city in which I was born.

I used to hand out demo CDs on college campuses, including the University of Dayton, Wright State University, and Miami University.  I also knew where every flyer board on Miami's campus was for years because I would use them to promote my local shows.  Digitally marketing my music is, in many ways, cheaper, more efficient, and definitely broader reaching, but I really enjoyed putting up flyers and handing out CDs in person.  It felt more connective.  Of course, meeting people in person on my first European tour that had previously been digital commenters on my Facebook page and YouTube channel, felt truly surreal, so both have their merits. 

If you haven't caught onto the theme yet, I don't measure my success in dollars, but in experiences and personal growth.  I would absolutely love to make a living from my music, but it is the personal connections, the self-growth, and the positive impact that I've had on others, and that others have had on me, that really drive me.  It's why I've stuck with music for 33 years, and took the risk of going on my first European tour ever from November 18th, 2024 until January 22nd, 2025.  I timed it up with the ending of my lease, so that I wouldn't be paying rent while touring, because I knew I couldn't afford both, as realistically, I couldn't afford either.  I ended up adding $9,000 in credit card in my 66 days in Europe, and since coming back, I have relocated cities, found a job I really enjoy, and am focused on building my voiceover business.

I submitted over 400 applications, mostly looking for marketing positions, or entry level data analyst jobs, and some front end web development positions, all of which I was at least 90% qualified for, and over half of which I was 100% qualified for, before finding a job that pays significantly less than the office jobs I was looking for, but I am thankful just to have a job, and the fact that it is a job I truly enjoy  is really wonderful.  

It will take me at least a few more weeks before I'm living in my own place again, as I am now staying with family until I can save up the money I need to live on my own, but I am confident about things coming together nicely soon, especially after I get my car paid off next week. It'll be the first time since February of 2006 that I haven't had a car payment.

I am now recording my 16th studio album, “Gary Ferrari,” slowly.  I released, “In The Wolf's Mouth,” as a spoken word track recently.  It's just over a minute long, and is a poem I wrote about the fears I had going into my European tour.  “In Bocca Al Lupo,” (in the mouth of the wolf) is an Italian expression that means good luck, and is derived from the fact that a mother wolf carries its cubs in its mouth.  I have recorded, “Idigado,” which is an acapella single, where I make all of the music with my mouth, like in Pitch Perfect.  I actually really like that movie, by the way.  “Idigado,” is something my toddler nephew says, and phonetically, it works wonderfully as a backing track.  “Idigado. Idigado, digadigado, digado, digado, digadigadiga do,” etc. 

Just a few other moments that I'll mention, for now.  Jimmy Fallon lightly made fun of my music on the Tonight Show, on March 6th, 2018, one month after my father passed away.  Having my music used on national TV was a bright spot in an otherwise dim time.  My mother passed away in 1994, when I was 15, and music saved my life during that time.  I mention her a few times in my music, as she is the biggest personal influence I've ever had in my life.  She was her in her 40s, with 4 kids, and 3 teaching jobs, while going to school full-time to get her PhD, and she was still just happy to see us whenever she came home.  I credit her for my drive, work ethic, and warmth.  I'm now a year older than she was when she passed.  Heading into my 45th birthday, I decided to focus on personal growth, improving my Spanish, and learning Italian, which helped me feel more immersed in the culture in Italy, as I had multiple conversations in Italian in Italy, and even performed a couple of songs in Italian while I was there.  It was a truly enriching experience, as was taking public transportation everywhere while I was touring Europe.  It felt more like I was part of everyday life, and not a tourist.  The only touristy thing I did that cost money was going to see “La Rappresentate Di Lista,” live in concert at Teatro Della Concordia in Torino.  I bought a shirt, too.  Otherwise, everything I did in Europe was free, or a neccessary expense of daily life, including food, transportation, and lodging (almost exclusively renting a single room in an AirBnB to save money over a hotel).