BOMBSHELL NEWS out of the music community last night as Jeff Arevalo announced he’s stepping away indefinitely from GOOSE to rest, heal and prioritize his well-being.
As this is the first time in CarlsBlogs.com history that we’ve encountered a major mental health topic, let me be clear in saying we are 100,000,000% behind any and all efforts to get your head on straight. And that goes for literally everyone. Not just musicians and famous and fancy people but really every single person that gives a shit about mental health. I support you. We support you. CarlsBlogs.com is here for you. And again, that goes for everyone. You never know what somebody else is dealing with.
With that said, it’s important to explain that GOOSE is a newer band in a public sense. They’ve been together for 10+ years now but it’s a younger group that’s starting to get mainstream recognition. That’s because they feature a bonafide generational frontman in Rick Mitarotanda who has been described by John Mayer as his favorite active guitarist. He absolutely shreds.
It’s a fucked up song but indicative of the vibe and jam and groove.
As it pertains to Jeff – I saw GOOSE this past April 2024 with the one and only Tim Mahoney aka TBidness aka my cohost on the Monday Morning Cubs Show. We took a day trip to New York after he won a ticket lottery for their Capitol Theater run to start the spring tour. At this point I’m really sounding like a douchebag and that’s okay. That’s the cost of doing this business.
It was the first time I saw them live and I couldn’t help but think how bored Jeff looked on stage. Specifically, Goose uses two drummers and he’s more of the atypical percussionist. He’s hitting a triangle and shaking the maracas and maybe tapping the gong every 8th beat. Nice job if you can find it but I remember telling Mahoney Jeff looks so fucking bored up there. It’s just an observation from watching 4 guys jam hard and then there’s the 5th in the corner, elevated, banging a triangle.
To me that was a weird dynamic and I’m not saying it because I called it. I’m just saying it was obvious enough to me in my first concert experience that it appeared to be a different vibe for the other guys. I don’t know. Maybe I’m reaching here now that it’s actually real that he’s stepping away to get better? Who really cares other to say that I really hope he finds the peace and love he’s looking for. Especially after years of grinding in the band only to explode in popularity and now everyone’s probably acting like your best friend and all that bullshit.
Fuck that
Take care of yourself. Whether you’re a wildly popular touring musician or just a guy working customer service waiting for baseball season to start. Or whoever you are. You matter enough to take care of yourself. The people who love you want to see it and there’s nothing more important than your own mental health. Sorry to be so serious here on a Tuesday morning but that’s an absolute fact worth repeating: Nothing is more important than your own mental health.
As for GOOSE, I will see them this Saturday in Milwaukee at a smaller venue. I will be with Mahoney as is custom for GOOSE shows and I will take pictures and report back on the experience next week. Until then please pray for my safety as Mahoney is my #1 social wildcard where quite literally anything can happen.
Most importantly though, get better Jeffrey.