Zak Sobel

Zachary Sobel (April 11, 1989), is an American singer-songwriter and folk musician from Long Island, New York.
When you listen to Zak Sobel’s music, it is easy to see that the Long Island native grew up surrounded by the music of James Taylor, Van Morrison, Lyle Lovett, and Bob Dylan. “Zak Sobel has a very comforting vocal style. His music comes off a little like James Taylor's songs did, back in that pop icon's heyday,” notes Dan MacIntosh, of Indie-music.com.

As soon as Zak was able to talk, he was singing. “In one of our home videos- I think I was only about two- I’m dancing around on our back porch, singing along with James Taylor’s “Copperline.”
The Sobel family could have had a garage sale with all the instruments Zak tried out before 6th grade. When Zak was in third grade, he started playing piano, but after only a couple of years, and much arguing with his parents, he quit. By the time Zak entered middle school, he had already tried out six different instruments - piano, clarinet, trombone, violin, and drums. Finally, he picked saxophone, but he was still unsatisfied with his decision.
Throughout high school, music was more or less in the background. Baseball was life. As an all-state pitcher, with his mitt always in hand, baseball didn’t leave much time for anything else. Zak didn’t even really pick up a guitar until the spring of his senior year of high school.
After that, baseball was history. Music was everything. It went from a hobby to a passion to a way of life in a matter of months. In only three lightning quick years, Zak Sobel has transformed from a kid with no interest in music, to a musician who already has two releases under his belt and a third on the way. His music has already received airplay on major radio stations and garnered much attention from listeners who span the globe. In October 2010, Zak’s song, “Make Me Change My Mind And Stay” was picked by indie-music.com as a Top 25 “New and Noteworthy” song.
Zak has been receiving recognition for his music from various sources in the indie music scene as well. Annamarie DiRaddo, a contributor to The Indiestry Magazine, sites performances such as Zak’s appearances at the Long Island Fall Festival in 2009 and 2010 and his sharing the stage with The Apples in Stereo and Man Man in the Spring of 2010 at Penn State University. She advises new listeners to keep an eye out for the new artist, and promises that “Zak Sobel is a name you don't want to forget”.
“Music is everything to me. It’s what keeps me going. I can’t imagine how different I would be without it. I consider myself extremely lucky. Some people wait and search and drive themselves crazy their entire lives to find the one thing that makes them who they are. I was lucky enough to stumble upon what I love, the thing I live for, at such a young age. I don’t plan on wasting any time. I just want to continue to make music that I’m proud of and that people enjoy listening to. If I can do that forever, it’d be an understatement to say that I’ll be a pretty happy guy.”

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