Guitarist, songwriter, composer, independent researcher, & educator
About
Gabriel García-Leeds is an Uruguayan-American guitarist and songwriter from Philadelphia. He has a BMus in Composition from the University of the Arts. He currently works as a teaching artist for Carnegie Hall’s Lullaby Project in north Philadelphia, helping families experiencing homelessness, incarceration, and poverty write, perform, and record original songs for their children. He has also worked as an ESL teacher, an urban permaculturist’s assistant, and as the Minister of Music for an Episcopal Church.
He has performed internationally in various musical projects, including Terra Cotta, River Full of Fruit, and Primal Rat Screw. He has shared the stage with artists such as Kaia Kater, Horse Jumper of Love, Yuka Honda, and YHWH Nailgun, among others, and has performed at venues such as the Bowery Ballroom, World Cafe Live, and Johnny Brenda’s.
He is an award-winning choral composer, and has written music for theater, animation, and film. His undergraduate thesis was a 22-minute piece for 9 electric guitars and 2 drummers. He is currently scoring two documentary films.
García-Leeds has also curated unique mixed-media events throughout Philadelphia, working closely with mimes, magicians, puppeteers, and performance artists to create singular happenings.
García-Leeds’ independent research is primarily concerned with the role of music in communal reconciliation and peacebuilding - he’s interested in how music can strengthen communities in crisis. He also has an interest in global traditions of vernacular magic, cultural revitalization movements, folkloristics, and participatory research. He spent the summer of 2025 engaged in independent fieldwork at 5 Quaker farm camps in central Vermont, studying their unique practice of communal singing and investigating the varieties and functions of grace. He is currently researching the role of music in the spiritual life of the Bruderhof in Woodcrest, an Anabaptist intentional community in upstate New York.
His music has been played on WKDU, WXPN, and WPRB, and he has been interviewed on WKDU, WXPN, and in Office Magazine.
Terra Cotta
Terra Cotta’s full length debut album, I Found a Light, below. Songwriting, lyrics, vocals, and guitar by Gabriel García-Leeds. Additional vocals by Mariel Rice, Vedantini Lakshminarayanan, violin by Eli Kleinsmith, and bass by John Moran. Recorded by Paco Cathcart (the Cradle).
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Primal Rat Screw
Primal Rat Screw’s most recent EP, Thx Void Total Edge. Songs and vocals by Will McGoran, with guitar by Gabriel García-Leeds, bass by Kade Holt, and drums by Matthew Morin. Recorded by Saguiv Rosenstock (YHWH Nailgun, Jordana)
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River Full of Fruit
RFoF’s self-titled debut EP. Songwriting, vocals, and guzheng by Salina Kuo, with guitar and vocals by Gabriel García-Leeds. Recorded, engineered and mixed by García-Leeds
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Devil
Devil’s final album, Death is Knocking at My Door (5 Star Limo, 2019). Lyrics and vocals by Efron Danzig, with guitar by Gabriel García-Leeds and Will McGoran, bass by Lyle Seitz, and drums by John Moran.
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Ceiba
Ceiba’s debut album, recorded in the first months of 2020. Songwriting, vocals, and guitar by Gabriel García-Leeds. Drums by Joey Sullivan and bass by John Moran. Recorded by Justin Bartlett (Turnstile, Carly Cosgrove)
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Mysteries of the Heart
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Free improvisational music with guitar by Gabriel García-Leeds, vocals by Tammy Huynh, saxophone by Joseph Borsellino, and upright bass by Pete Dennis
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Watch
Terra Cotta performing live in Clark Park. Video by Fiona Agger and Levi Baruch.
Contact
For US booking, please email lydia@wholesome.agency
For other inquiries, commissions, or questions, email gabrielgarcialeeds@gmail.com
A stranger’s greeting is a gift like no other- don’t hesitate to say hello