“I’ve Got a Crush on a YouTube Star”

It happened a few days ago and it was utterly magical. I was sitting at my desk underneath a warm sky of flickering Christmas lights (a dorm necessity!). Every so often, the heater next to me would loudly croak, letting out soft puffs of air which tickled my nearby toes. Both hands cradled my face as I tried to make sense of reaction mechanisms. In an attempt to keep myself awake and focused I had decided a little bit of Taylor Swift would do the trick (don’t judge- you know you love her too). It unfortunately didn’t, as I still managed to doze off a half a dozen times. I finally gave up and felt completely defeated by the fact that organic chemistry was still a mystery to me. Hopeless and tired I went to shut my computer off and that’s when I saw him. His tiny face was smiling back at me from below the related videos section. Curious as I was, I clicked on the link. That’s when I fell in love.

His name is Gabe Bondoc and he is ridiculously talented (did I also mention ridiculously adorable-check out his kick ass glasses!). Most wannabe singers on YouTube belt out covers of the latest top 40 single with a downloaded instrumental in the background. Gabe doesn’t (that’s right- I’m on first name basis… at least in my head I am…). He accompanies himself on every song with his guitar (occasionally with a ukulele) and sometimes creates unique versions of the songs he covers by using his own lyrics (listen to his cover of “Love Story” to see what I mean). Part John Mayer (the talented guitarist and musician, not the self-obsessed tool) and part John Legend, Gabe is a breath of fresh air in the usually tired realm of YouTube covers. Plus, those of you who have a musical taste as eclectic as mine (my iPod playlist has stuff ranging from Ravi Shankar to Ray J) will definitely find something to your liking in Gabe’s collection of covers. My personal favorites have to be his cover of “The Way You Look Tonight,” “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room,” “So Fly,” and ”Part of Your World.” He even manages to make the music of the Jonas Brothers sound soulful! If you get through all of his amazing covers, be sure to check out his original songs (Listen to his song Dorm Room and try not to hum along). In addition to having a great voice, Gabe can most definitely write. His originals have the melodic temperament and lyrical intelligence that can be best described as a hybrid of Jason Mraz and Colbie Callait. Plus, on a completely unrelated side note, EVERY video is done in ONE TAKE- how can you not be impressed?!

Gabe Bondoc is truly a fantastic artist and is one of the few YouTube cover artists that has the potential to have a successful professional music career. If you become as obsessed with Gabe as I am be sure to check out his Myspace (MySpace.com/ImGabe), Tumblr (GabeBondoc.Tumblr.com), or Twitter (Twitter.com/GabeBondoc). Let me know what you think of this “Youtube Star” (which by the way is the title of one of his originals) in the comments sections below. Enjoy and have a great week!

P.S. Dear Gabe- in the off chance that you search your name in Google, find this post, and read it I just want to say “Ello” 🙂

To get started check out the video that started my obsession