Having broken with Sublime with Rome, Ramirez has his own tour, album to do

Storybook. That term sums up the ride Rome Ramirez’s life has been on to this point.

As a second-generation Mexican American kid growing up in Fremont, California, he was inspired to pick up a guitar and learn how to sing after hearing Sublime’s self-titled outing, the third and last album the trio did with the late Brad Nowell, the band’s original lead singer. By the time Ramirez was in his early 20s, he had connected with surviving members Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh to form Sublime’s successor group, Sublime with Rome, which specialized in an amalgam of alternative rock, punk, ska and more.

The whirlwind ride he went on starting in 2009 ended in 2024 when Ramirez announced he was leaving Sublime with Rome, around the time Wilson and Gaugh announced they were reforming Sublime with Nowell’s son, Jakob.

For Ramirez, his stint with the reconstituted Sublime not only shaped him as a songwriter-producer who has also worked with myriad other artists on their own projects, including Enrique Iglesias, Selena Gomez and Bruno Mars, but it prepared him to strike out on his own.

Rome Ramirez's fall tour is a precursor of what is shaping up to be a busy 2026, with extensive touring and an expected summer release of his full-length solo debut. (Courtesy of Doc Abbott)

“That time showed me that anything was possible, and I got to see firsthand how music that was taken away from everybody 15 years prior to me even being a thought was music that still rang true,” Ramirez said. “Even to this day, with Jakob fronting the band, there is still so much love that Sublime’s music has to offer people.

“I’ve always said this: The music of Sublime is bigger than all of us and it belongs to the people. Just firsthand getting to witness that magic, no matter how we ended or whatever they want to say in the press, nothing can ever dilute that.”

This year has ushered in the next chapter in the creative life of the 37-year-old musician, who plays Terminal West on Sunday.

With the recent release of the five-song EP “Gemini,” Ramirez is making a commercial impact with the single “Slow & Easy,” which has cracked the alternative rock charts’ top 15. The single features longtime running buddies The Dirty Heads, with whom Ramirez topped the alternative songs chart in 2010 with the single “Lay Me Down.”

“Gemini” is the follow-up to Ramirez’s 2012 debut EP “Dedication.” With a decade-plus of music experiences under his belt, the California native views that initial batch of songs as more of an audio calling card that helped him get a foot in the music industry door versus a true representation of who he is as an artist.

“That first go-around was me signing two record deals that day, one for Sublime with Rome and after I did that, the next one slid over and that was for a solo deal,” he said. “Atlantic wanted both. It was very much my first go-around in a major music scene. You’re heard time and time again that you get put in this position where other people are picking a sound for you and telling you that this is what you should be doing and there is where you should be going. Everything is just fun at that point — you’re just young and hungry.”

For “Gemini,” Ramirez made the major life change of relocating to Nashville, buying a house in a compound that includes a recording studio. Having been a frequent Music Row visitor as an up-and-coming artist, a 2019 trip with his spouse convinced the couple to relocate from California to Tennessee.

“I was doing some writing out here for Jewel and I brought my wife out here” he said. “We were staying at an Airbnb in the fall. It was the most perfect season in Nashville, and (my wife) asked if I ever thought of moving out here. … I said, ‘Dude, yes.’”

When the pandemic started to shut the country down, the couple took that as a signal to move. “Nashville was just the latest progression for me because it’s so focused on songs. It’s just a lot less bureaucracy. There’s still a ton of [music industry] politics out here. But in terms of coming from Los Angeles, it’s not even close.”

In addition, he started working with powerhouse producer Dann Huff (Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Josh Groban), whose best friend happens to be Ramirez’s lawyer. This connection soon grew into having Huff produce “Gemini.”

“It was really quick to find out that we had a really good process,” Ramirez said. Huff “respects the way I write and my sensibilities in songwriting and arranging. I just let him make everything sound awesome.”

Having grown up in a household where the sounds of Motown, classic rock and reggae reverberated, Ramirez’s sensibilities resound throughout “Gemini.” “Slow & Easy” opens with a whistling intro reminiscent of Smash Mouth’s “All Star,” before Ramirez and The Dirty Heads veer off into a soulful groove that’s more L.A. R&B than SoCal alt-pop. Meanwhile, Ramirez’s opening “Why Me” plugs into warm rock-steady rhythms reflecting his love of reggae.

Fans can anticipate this kind of musical dexterity on the fall tour and a more extensive set of dates in summer 2026 when Ramirez expects to drop his full-length solo debut.

“These hour-and-a-half sets are where I get to do a sonic journey of everything I’ve been a part of,” he said. “My favorite music, the music I’ve gotten to write with Sublime or Dirty Heads and my solo adventures — and the introduction of this whole batch of new live music that I’ve been building on — kind of creates a whole new journey.”

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