315. Gabe Baker Flipped “Upside Down” but Christian Leadership has Come Back Around

We have a special young man on this episode of the dHarmic Evolution and he is coming from Houston Texas to Nashville, Tennessee. Gabe Baker is a passionate leader that possesses profound abilities to effectively communicate, create, and problem solve in a variety of environments due to his wide range of working and interpersonal experience.  Gabe is currently focusing on his career as a singer songwriter and a cellist. He formerly served as a policy advisor and community engagement strategist for the Harris County Judge. He has a driven heart to serve, organize and inspire through his leadership roles in Christian ministry and community engagement work. He is a former technical roadway engineer at the engineering consulting firm HNTB. He graduated from the Houston Graduate School of Theology with a Master of Theological Studies degree, a former engineering student, athlete, and captain of the football team at Rice University, and a skilled public speaker. Gabe is committed to learning and growing as an individual keenly focused on impacting the lives of those around him and capitalizing on any opportunity that comes his way. Today, we’re going to learn more about Gabe’s music, his influences, his family, and life stories that inspire him, and his songwriting. In this episode, we featured his songs titled “Mother” and “Upside Down.” Get to hear his music and the stories behind it as we go to Nashville with Gabe Baker. More about Gabe Baker Support Gabe Baker and check out all the links provided below. Find out more of what he does by visiting his website, Instagram, and all other social media pages. Quotes: 15:28 “My music journey now means so much more to me because I really do feel so inspired to do it…” 20:20 “I guess my musical expression was like picking on my guitar in my dorm room at nights and helping lead some worship at church. So, it was still there. I'm singing all the time in the shower, and all around, and having fun with that, because you never stop being a musician.”   31:33 “The song was made, it was really inspired by, just this whole new season of emotions and feelings and situations that I was going through and found myself in. It was just a very simple, simple, concept, a simple expression of where I felt I was like, “Yep, I'm flipped upside down.””   44:16 “Don't be afraid of passionately pursuing what's on your heart. That's a huge thing. There's definitely a lot of fear and anxiety, because of the risk that whatever that means to follow what purpose you feel called to pursue, what passion you have to develop, but you're never wrong pursuing the passions that God's put on your heart.”   46:35 “The enjoyment of pursuing any dream is the process of getting there. So, I think the more you really, really, love growth, love practicing, the more you're going to enjoy the journey.”   Timestamps:   02:50 Introducing Gabe Baker 05:09 How was Gabe’s transition to Nashville? 06:33 Gabe shares the loss of his mom 08:43 Listen to “Mother” by Gabe Baker 12:25 How did Gabe start playing the cello? 14:03 Is your family all still doing music 19:29 Did Gabe have to make a choice between music and football? 22:13 When did Gabe start songwriting? 26:04 Who are Gabe's musical influences and the artists that he listened to? 27:07 Listen to “Upside Down” by Gabe Baker 30:31 The story behind the title and the song “Upside Down” 36:02 How did Gabe feel when he started going to church? 38:07 Where does Gabe see himself going in the next five years?  40:52 For Gabe, what is his best representation live? 43:41 Some pearls of wisdom from Gabe Baker to the younger singer, songwriter, artists, musicians who are listening to the show 47:39 Listen to “Ride On” by James Kevin O’Connor   Spotify Playlist:   We’re about to start our third Spotify playlist, but while waiting, you can check our Orion and Aquila playlists that consist of eclectic music from the talented artists who have been on the dHarmic Evolution.  These are today's dHarmic Rising Stars! Please share them with your family and friends, also!   dHarmic Rising Stars: Aquila https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4loDaYF0OuWRjZeMXvEjK4?si=L20-loGXR9i6IW0Z_GjEnA   dHarmic Rising Stars: Orion https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5CnL9tl0xbU4oDh6jtJBZx?si=ecg7eEbLQcSu1dRBDCGALg   dHarmic Evolution links:   Head over to the website, dharmicevolution.com and sign up on your favorite platform so you can be notified once the new episode is released. Good news, we were just added to a huge platform in India! dHarmic Evolution is now on the Jio Saavn music platform! You can leave a comment or rate the podcast through your favorite platforms to let us know what you think!   Hey, if you know someone who is depressed, please send them to the website dharmicevolution.com, where they can check out the book for people suffering from anxiety and depression. The book, “7 Steps to Mental Freedom” is now on the main page and this will be of great help to them.    You can also visit our Facebook Community Page: https://www.facebook.com/dharmicevolution/    Opportunity for our listeners who are artists, authors, and keynote speakers! Go to the dHarmic Evolution Facebook Community page and let the world support you! It’s a good place to post your content to: https://www.facebook.com/groups/995607857167395.   Special links and Mentions: Yo-Yo Ma Otis Redding Sam Cooke Smokey Robinson Stevie Wonder Luther Vandross Brian McKnight The Temptations Earth, Wind And Fire   Connect with Gabe Baker: Website: https://gabebaker.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegabebaker/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thegabebaker/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegabebaker YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBS9AMtfG3Y97Lu9XyfEMEA Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0xqkIEMKtxLO5myBzErKWu Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/us/artist/93053032 YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCbeJIU8C-OEx2L6JwQGQGmg