Tallahassee rock artist sending message for peace with new single, 'Cool This Country'

In light of entrenched national discourse causing turmoil across the country, a local southern rock singer is using his gift to advocate for peace.

The musical journey of Tallahassee native Jason "Gamble Cosmos" Chimonides, 51, began several decades ago. But in recent projects, he's putting heartfelt messages in his songs, like his latest single, "Cool This Country," where he calls to calm the "hate blazing the states."

“I just started doing it as a hobby,” Chimonides said of delving into the music world, while sipping coffee at Black Dog Cafe. “I mean, I’ve recorded dozens and dozens of songs at this point. I can’t believe I’ve amassed this body of work. I make music more for myself, I guess. But then, suddenly I’ll create something and I’m like ‘Oh, I’m proud of this, and I want to share it with people.’”

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The 1991 Lincoln High School graduate recalls gazing into the shop windows at local music stores, before he got his first drum set as a 7 - yea r- old. A few years later, his parents purchased his first guitar.

It wasn’t long after taking basic lessons that he began experimenting with his sound and producing his own records. Early on, he began recording at local studios, like the now-closed Sweetbay Studios on Jackson Bluff Road, on record tapes, before the era that brought digital audio workstations, like Pro Tools, Logic Pro and Garageband.

Back then, engineering was much more limited than it is today. Musicians had to physically cut the tapes and stitch them together to make edits on a track. Whereas now they have the flexibility to cut, copy, paste and add effects through digital software programs.

After earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in theater at Florida State University, Chimonides moved to Atlanta for four years, where he worked with other Tallahassee native engineers.

“I love going into a studio with all the equipment with an engineer, who really knows what they’re doing,” Chimonides said. “I just love to collaborate with them and let them focus on technical stuff and the recording, and let me focus on the performance and the song.”

Through the past few decades, Chimonides moved around the northeast region of the country, living in places like New York, where he met his wife, Susan Carnell, another musician, and Baltimore, where he began performing in front of live audiences.

When Chimonides moved back to Tallahassee over a decade ago, he returned to his alma mater, teaching theater at FSU. Upon his return, he began taking guitar lessons once again at Guitar Center to better refine his craft and learn music theory. While working with his instructor on relative minor chords, he began developing the melody for what would become his most recent single, “Cool This Country.”

“I got a technical idea from my instructor, and started building on that,” Chimonides said. “Then, because of our country and the polarization, the rhetoric, the intensity, I had this notion of let’s just cool it down. Let’s just chill. Let’s pull it back. We can’t keep going with all this anger and hatred.”

Before recording the single with engineer Joshua Rumble in Maidenland, England, a city just an hour outside of London where his wife is from, Chimonides performed the song live locally, at open mics and places like Bird’s Aphrodisiac Oyster Shack, Barrel Proof Lounge and The Sound Bar.

He says that performing songs before recording has helped him perfect the chords and structure of the tracks before putting them on a record.

"Cool This Country" has only been streaming for a few weeks, so statistics across all platforms aren't available. But, those looking to tune in for a listen can visit youtube.com/watch?v=cYWagNzT6Fg or search for "Gamble Cosmos" on Spotify.

On Oct. 5, Chimonides will be performing at The Sound Bar along with nine other bands for the Local Soundfest , an event created to get Local Music Appreciation Day on the national calendar.

To connect with Gamble Cosmos on social media, visit instagram.com/gamblecosmos73/ .

Democrat Writer Mycah Brown can be reached at MJBrown@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee rock artist sending message for peace with new single, 'Cool This Country'