50°
She attended her first concert - the Jonas Brothers - as a 12-year-old at Nassau Coliseum. Fifteen years later, she's up on stage with those same famous brothers, wowing sold-out crowds with her saxophone on their world tour.
It's an incredible turn of fortune that the 27-year-old singer and songwriter, a Long Island native from Nassau County, never could have imagined.
“I didn’t have a role model like that growing up. I didn’t see somebody like me doing that,” Rose told Daily Voice. “So now the fact that it’s really, truly come full circle is insane.”
The rising musician is currently stadium hopping around the country as a featured soloist playing the alto saxophone on the Jonas Brothers’ world tour, dubbed simply “The Tour.” She also plays flute in the show and dances. A lot.
Already a successful performer in her own right - her band Enrose put out its first EP in early 2022 and she regularly entertains crowds at Jersey nightclubs - Rose is no stranger to playing for an audience. Her audiences these days, however, are much, much larger.
“It’s the biggest gig that I’ve ever had,” she said.
Just how she got this “gig” is the stuff of dreams. In late June 2023, while already touring with alternative rock band Bilmuri, Rose got an out-of-the-blue phone call from music producer Chase Foster, who has worked with the likes of Lizzo, Dan and Shay, and Kelsea Ballerini, to name a few.
Foster told her the job was hers, no audition required.
“So it all happened really, really fast,” she said. “Just getting the call and being told ‘the gig is yours if you want it, you’re perfect for this,’ it just felt amazing.”
Her rapid ascension to the world stage comes as no surprise to those who knew Rose as a kid. She picked up her first violin at age 9 and had learned to play the saxophone a year later.
“I was the kind of kid that wanted to get involved in everything, band, chorus, dancer, athlete, student government,” she said. “I was just really into anything that would give me artistic freedom in any which way.”
She eventually settled on the saxophone, taking inspiration from her dad who often played records from David Sanborn, Kenny G, and Steely Dan.
“I knew I liked the sound of it,” she said. “And my mom says that I really liked the way it looked.”
Fast forward to summer 2023 and Rose is on the payroll touring with one of the most successful pop rock bands of all time, with shows scheduled through early December. Then the international leg gets underway in February 2024.
"HOW IS THIS MY LIFE RIGHT NOW?!" she captioned a recent Instagram post showing her on stage next to Kevin Jonas.
The weeks leading up to the first show were spent with all-day rehearsals in which Rose had to memorize her parts and dance moves, and learn stage blocking. All the while she continued work on Enrose’s newest single, Tattoo.
Finally on Saturday, Aug. 12, Rose took the stage at Yankee Stadium for the first of two sold-out shows there. Donning her signature red hair and a black and gold saxophone, she jammed out in front of nearly 50,000 Jonatics.
“The nerves were pretty high. I had to get through the first show to feel like, okay, now we’re really going with this,” she said. “By the second show I think everybody felt a lot more comfortable.”
Performing in the show feels like a win not only for her, but for girls who grew up like her and had "crazy" dreams, she added.
“I feel like just judging from the conversations that I had and the reactions that I saw from people, I know that it got other people really, really excited and that made me feel very proud.”
These days Rose’s nights are spent sleeping on a tour bus or in a hotel room. Then it's back on stage for three to five shows a week.
“We definitely have some free time, but it’s pretty full on,” she said. “We don’t have long stretches of breaks.”
As for the JoBros themselves, Rose describes Nick, Joe, and Kevin as “so kind and down to earth.” The famed trio even took time to meet her family.
“They stood up right away and shook their hands. They’re such gentlemen,” she said.
Her transition from casual listener to active performer has helped Rose hear the group’s music in a whole new light.
“Now I’m experiencing it as a peer, from a different perspective as a musician, as a songwriter myself, and watching them perform and watching them during rehearsals,” she said. “I just have so much respect for them and the band that Chase Foster put together alongside the brothers.”
Asked about the seeming resurgence of the saxophone in popular culture, Rose chalks the instrument’s appeal up to its human-like quality.
“I feel like the saxophone mimics the human voice in a way that other instruments can’t, so I think that’s why it’s coming back. I think it’s really palatable,” she said. "And it’s just a badass instrument.”
Follow Gabi Rose on TikTok, Instagram, and her website.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Massapequa and receive free news updates.
