Colin Gawel (born 1969 in Worthington, Ohio), is co-founder, lead singer and guitarist of the American rock band Watershed who he formed with Joe Oestreich (vocals, bass) and Herb Schupp (drums) while they were still in middle school.
In first grade he was exposed to the record KISS Alive and shortly thereafter purchased his first guitar, a Gibson Melody Maker with money saved up from his Columbus Dispatch paper route.
He began writing songs and formed his first band "The Wire" in 8th grade along with classmates Joe Oestreich (bass) and Herb Schupp (drums).
All three entered Ohio State together and after receiving an encouraging phone call from Chris Blackwell at Island Records, decided to drop out of school and pursue music full-time.
The trio changed their name to Watershed and began relentlessly touring the eastern USA opening for established regional acts like Dash Rip Rock, Cowboy Mouth, Hootie and The Blowfish etc.
Producer Jim Steinman heard a cassette version of "How Do You Feel" and soon after convinced Richard Griffiths to sign the band to Epic Records with Frankie LaRocca acting as A&R.
Colin was a featured character in Joe Oestreich's critically acclaimed memoir, "Hitless Wonder - A life in Minor League Rock n Roll" released by Lyons Press in June 2012.
In 2013, Colin founded the website Pencilstorm.com and it replaced Colingawel.com as his primary creative writing outlet and features a rotating cast of roughly 20 writers focusing on pop culture and sports.
The band included members of The New Bomb Turks and Howlin' Maggie and released two songs written by Willie Phoenix and were produced by Mike Landolt and engineered by Rick Kinsinger.
The "Bowlers" feature Willie Phoenix Alumni Jim Johnson (Drums) and Mike Parks (Guitar) and Four String Brew founder [8] Dan Cochran (Big Back 40) on bass.
Official Bootleg: Live at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: Bruce Springsteen Fanfest Weekend 6/13/2009 (2009) Superior - The Best of Colin Gawel was released on December 28, 2015 on CurryHouse records.