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The Broken Stems

RIYL

Black Keys, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Dispatch, Panic at the Disco, Coldwar Kids, Mumford and Sons, Rusted Root, Jimi Hendrix, Jack White, White Stripes, Alt-J

Inception

San Diego , 2013

Influences

Jack White, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Black Keys, Delta Saints, Rival Sons

Discography

Video(s)

Ex-Band Members

Chelsea Baker:
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Based in PB and formed in mid-2013, the Broken Stems is fronted by singer/songwriter guitarist Jesse Gawlik, who launched the band as a reggae project. The sound was revised along with a lineup change that brought in Andrew Bache (drummer/singer), Chelsea Baker (bassist/singer), and Brad Sweet (keyboard/vocals). They cite their influences as including a capella groups, reggae, jazz, blues, hard rock, and soul. "No genre or emotion goes untouched with this band."

Their debut five-song EP We Are Home was released in October 2013, followed by a few
tours through the west, performing at SXSW, and supporting Donavon Frankenreiter on the charity driven Caravan to Cabo tour.

A 2016 full-length, What Are You Connected, was promoted with videos for "Take Me In" (directed by Eric Ward) and "Hear You Calling," with the latter single earning a 7th place award at Macy’s iHeartRadio Rising Star Competition. Recorded over the course of sixteen months in their garage and produced in-house by keyboard player Brad Sweet, the ten song album is comprised of many messages laced together in an overarching theme.

According to Jesse Gawlik, "The music is about awakening our collective consciousness, inspiring others to connect to the right thoughts, ideas, people, and most importantly, themselves."

The symbol on the album cover is an quincunx. "Since ancient times, the Quincunx pattern has been considered a geometric symbol of a sanctified universe and an ordered world," says Gawlik. "The whole is more than the sum its parts. The five shapes in the pattern symbolize the five human senses and their encircled arrangement represents the higher energy encircling and protecting us, as well as, the ability of an individual to ascend from the four physical elements to the exalted and enlightened fifth one. The five-fold symbol lends itself to several powerful meanings over different cultures and is generally associated with integration, expansion, connection, and a journey into higher understanding."

A new album was released in 2018, Joshua Tree Sessions, with the band now pared down to a trio featuring Gawlik, Bache, and Sweet.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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