For Livingston resident, Jared Wohl, the title of his new album perfectly describes his journey the past eight years, and his need to return to something he loves.
Wohl says, “Life’s greatest irony is that you just never know when you’re going to need something, and I feel like for me and my love for music has has never wavered.”
As a follow up to his debut solo EP, By The Morning (2012), which he released under the name of Farewell Luna, Wohl’s first full-length album is titled, The Road. Recorded at Architek Studios in Butler, it is, in a way, a biography of his life the past 10 years. “These songs that I put on this record I’d recorded and written years ago. It was almost like I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed the songs until I had listened to them again, and I think having had the opportunity to let time go on and let these songs kind of breathe a bit, it just kind of reinvigorated my love and passion.”
Wohl learned to play instruments as a child, ultimately teaching himself how to play guitar and then write music. He hadn’t really spent a lot of time on pursuing music as a career as an endeavor. His priorities changed. First came marriage, then home ownership, and finally two young sons. “I’ve got so many things that I’m incredibly grateful for,” he says, “but it was almost as if music had sort of taken a backseat to that; not purposely, but sort of organically.”
According to Wohl, that all changed one evening when he, his wife Samantha, and two sons, Quinn and Callan, were sitting in their living room, music playing in the background as it always does in their home. “my wife said, ‘Hey, put on one of your songs.’” Her husband reached for a track of his that he had recorded and, upon hearing his dad’s voice, his older son’s eyes lit up and he said, “That Da Da?”
It was an “A-ha” moment for his father. “It was just sort of this epiphany that I had in that moment that I had to get the songs out. It was at that very moment that I came to that realization,” says Wohl.
“Arguably the best session players in the world,” Wohl says of bass guitarist Sean Hurley, drummer Aaron Sterling, and Andy Burton, keyboardist, all who joined Wohl on The Road. “These are musicians that have toured and recorded with the likes of John Mayer, the Taylor Swift’s of the world. I mean, heavy hitters in the music industry. Leading up to that session, of course, there was a lot of excitement. As far as the actual experience of getting to be in the same room as them and playing music with such talent, it’s just hard to put that into words. It was just such a cool experience. You see artists that are so talented at their craft, it’s awe inspiring, and it doesn’t just have to be in relation to music, but it definitely forced me to level up in many ways.” And to work with the trio again? “Oh, my goodness, if I had an opportunity, I would jump at it.”
For Wohl, 26, a Montclair State University graduate, his family and music are a huge part of his life, but so are other things. Wohl embraces educational technology, not only the learning of it, but putting it to use in education, and also serves as an advisor for The Wave Set, a Partner Fund of the NJ Sharing Network, which educates on the importance of organ donation. In fact, Wohl in 2014 donated 65% of his liver to his brother, Cameron.
Wohl intends on adding to his musical resume. “I need music to be a priority in my life to some extent, and I absolutely have plans to record and release more music. And I also know my heart and passion has always been in writing, and if I could have an opportunity to write and produce for other artists, I would jump at that opportunity as well. And that’s what I’m really hoping, to use these songs as a way to get my music out there, but also establish myself as a songwriter.”
For more information about Wohl and his music, visit www.jaredwohl.com. To contact Wohl, you can email him at info@jaredwohl.com
Source: Livingston Life, March 2022, No. 18 Vol. 3, p. 2
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