Scoring his life’s soundtrack
Ethan Gruska, grandson of composer John Williams, opens for Ray LaMontagne at Tivoli show
It is probably only natural that Ethan Gruska would grow up making music. He’s been surrounded by it since birth. There was no guarantee that he’d be good at it, however, or that he would be able to find his own voice.
By most accounts, he has managed to do both.
Gruska, 27, will open for Ray LaMontagne Friday night, Nov. 10, at the Tivoli Theatre. He is the son of Jay Gruska, a film and TV composer, and grandson of John Williams, arguably the foremost film composer of our day. Williams’ movies include “Jaws,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Superman” and the Star Wars series.
Gruska said he has been fortunate to benefit from “a lot of professional advice” growing up, but one of the things he most appreciated from his talented family was that they did a variety of things with their talents.
Dad Jay has written classical, classic rock, Latin, Broadway and Motown music at various times, in addition to composing scores for shows like “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” and musicals such as “The Front.”
“Seeing people in my family do things with such variety was very inspiring and compelling,” he said.
That is part of the reason he wanted to break away from his sister, Barbara, and their duo, the Belle Brigade, to create his first solo album, “Slowmotionary.” The duo earned critical acclaim for their sound, which drew comparisons to the Beach Boys, the Eagles and a little bit Everly Brothers.
“I wanted to try my own thing and not hide behind anything but the song,” he said. “It’s very sparce production. Very minimal. It’s really mellow and somber. It’s also very
personal. When it was finished, I felt like it was the first time I’d ever made something that wasn’t veiled in something other people wanted.”
He said he learned about himself and about songwriting during the process.
“For the longest time, I had, or I thought I had, all these snippets or parts of songs and thought I would add to them or find places for them. I realized I could ‘complexify’ them and call them a complete song. It was a cool revelation.”
“Slowmotionary” came out in March, so Gruska is still focused on introducing it to new fans. He’s also enjoying touring with LaMontagne.
“I was in Ray’s band for awhile,” Gruska said.
While he is enjoying life as a solo artist, “I definitely see me and my sister making music for a long time together. We are very close.”