May 16 , 2022

Nirvana/Soundgarden Guitarist becomes Green Beret/Ranger and goes to war to shred enemy

The path from the rock star to a respectable Special Forces operator was easy for Jason Everman. Tales of combat stories from a friend, a former Navy SEAL, inspired Jason Everman who was restless with his rock career and were in pursuit of new life challenges. The stories of brotherhood and combat experience triggered his decision to join the Army Rangers. He turned his back on “this world of cool,” as he said in the video. He felt “free.”

Rock Career
Everman joined Nirvana in February 1989 as a second guitarist. He is listed as being the second guitarist on Nirvana’s Bleach and appears on the cover, but did not actually play on any of the tracks. Nirvana ejected Everman from the band after a short time.

Everman left Nirvana in July 1989 and joined Soundgarden the following year as Hiro Yamamoto’s temporary successor on bass. In April 1990, he played on the band’s cover of The Beatles’ “Come Together”, which appeared on an EP called Loudest Love. Everman left immediately after Soundgarden completed its promotional tour for Louder Than Love in mid-1990 to play bass for the band OLD (Old Lady Drivers) and Soundgarden found Yamamoto’s ultimate successor, the bassist Ben Shepherd. Later, in 1993, he played guitar in Mind Funk.

Military Career
Jason Everman was born on October 16, 1967, at Ouzinkie (then-part of Kodiak), Alaska, United States. He was not an ordinary guy, instead of that, he was the man who was kicked out of two rock bands, Nirvana and Soundgarden.


In 1994, he traded his guitar for a rifle and enlisted in the U.S. Army Special Operations Forces as a part of the 2nd Ranger Battalion. He did his time and apparently come back for more in 2000 when he once again joined the U.S. Army Special Operations Forces and deployed to Iraq.During his military career, he served as an Army Ranger and Green Beret.

Bachelor’s degree
During his second service, Jason Everman considered the completion of his bachelor’s degree as the final step toward achieving a well-rounded, wholeness in his life.

“Throughout my adult life, I have made the conscious effort to develop three aspects of who I am: the artist, the soldier, and the philosopher. I believe GS has been the ideal place to realize this development,” Everman said.

The military set him up for applying to Columbia University later. General Stanley A. McChrystal wrote a letter of recommendation for his application. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Columbia University School of General Studies on May 20, 2013.

Jason Everman may not be a household name, but Soundgarden and Nirvana are, and Jason served in the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) after having played in both of those bands.

While enrolled at Columbia GS, Everman, who was an active member of the U.S. Military Veterans of Columbia University student organization, composed and recorded a song entitled, “Catch & Release,” for the soundtrack, “A Marine’s Guide to Fishing,” an award-winning short film starring an Iraq veteran. He also participated in the New York University Veterans Writing Workshop where he published two stories in the 2009 and 2010 anthologies entitled, “The Meantime,” and “Summation,” respectively.

Silence & Light
In May of 2017, the band Silence & Light was formed after Everman met with Brad Thomas in New York. The band consists of military veterans and the album was produced by Grammy Award-winning Producer Josh Gudwin and Studio Engineer Bil Lane. The band is committed to helping and providing their profits to help members of the Special Operations Community, the Military, and First Responders.

Official military record: Jason Everman
Last Rank: Sergeant First Class
Last Service Branch: Special Forces
Last Primary MOS: 18B-Special Forces Weapons Sergeant
Last MOS Group: Special Forces (Enlisted)
Primary Unit: 2001-2006, 18B, 3rd Special Forces Group Airborne
Previously Held MOS: 11B10-Infantryman
Service Years: 1994 – 2006
Official/Unofficial US Army Certificates: Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom

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