Pioneer Records artist and senior musical theatre major Gabe Reed performed at Stage AE last Thursday to celebrate the release of his debut EP and music video.

The four-song EP titled “Chasing Grey” was released as part of the annual Pioneer Star contest held by Pioneer Records. Each fall, the Point Park label awards one artist with a contract, EP and music video. The music video recorded by the music video workshop class “Take a Note” was premiered prior to Reeds acoustic set.

“I’ve been auditioning for Pioneer Records since my freshman year so this was my fourth year auditioning,” Reed said. “I’m super happy it happened now instead of back then because I was really able to perfect my craft.”

Reed’s musical background started in third grade when he began playing guitar, later learning to play piano and saxophone in fifth grade. It wasn’t until the eighth grade when he began writing music.

Drawing influence from a range of different genres such as Prince, Logic, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mayer, Stevie Wonder and others, Reed blends each genre into his own musical style.

“I am really into rap right now, but also into the songwriting aspect behind rap, kind of like singing with a flow,” Reed said.

As part of his Pioneer Star deal, Reed recorded “Chasing Grey” at Pioneer Record’s Red Caiman Studio.

“It was great to work with professionals and I learned a lot,” Reed said. “From a music standpoint just what goes into a song and how much. I also learned that you have to be eclectic when writing a song.”

According to Reed, having the chance to record in a professional studio is an invaluable experience.

“For them to support me and give me the opportunity to go to a real studio and learn from it will benefit my career from this point on because I’m eager and I know how a studio works,” Reed said.

Prior to the release show, Reed hadn’t watched his music video.

“I’m so grateful they did that for me and I love the way it turned out,” Reed said. “It’s definitely a great start.”

Performing opening acts before Reed’s set was Luke Wood and Samurai Velvet. Sports, art and entertainment management (SAEM) sophomore Toni Miladinov also joined Reed on stage for a song during his acoustic set.

A beatboxer from Pittsburgh, Miladinov performs regularly around the region and other a number of other cities.

“I pretty much run the beatbox circuit,” Miladinov said. “It’s New York City, Columbus and Toronto so I’ve performed in a lot of different places.”

Miladinov says he met Reed the week before after watching Reed’s performance at the Pittsburgh iHeartRadio studio. Miladinov was attending the concert with an SAEM class.

“We started talking and I told him I loved his playing,” Miladinov said. “Hearing him live really made me want to perform with him.”

With limited time to rehearse, the two created a song together called “Redesign” and debuted it at the show, according to Miladinov.

“After one session on Tuesday we weren’t able to meet Wednesday, so on Thursday I picked him up from downtown and we went over the song four or five times before and during soundcheck,” Miladinov said. “The crowd loved it.”

Reed is set to perform Friday night at Mr. Smalls Funhouse opening for fellow Pioneer Records band, and last year’s Pioneer Star winner Chase and the Barons.

Kayla Snyder contributed additional reporting.