 jason mark everman (born october 16, 1967 in kodiak, alaska) is an american musician and former green beret who played with nirvana and soundgarden, and later served in the us army. ==early life== in a 2013 interview in the new york times magazine, everman said when asked about his birth, "my birth certificate says kodiak, but iâm pretty sure it was ouzinkie, where my parents lived in a two-room cabin with a pet ocelot named kia." his parents had moved to the remote spruce island to, as guitarist and writer clay tarver put it, "get back to nature", but their marriage did not survive the isolation. his mother left with jason when he was a toddler, moved to washington, and remarried to a former navy member; the family eventually settled in poulsbo, across puget sound from seattle. according to everman's half-sister, with whom he grew up, "my mother was extremely depressed, an artistic genius who was also a pill-popping alcoholic. jason and i learned to walk on eggshells and really learned to take care of ourselves." after an incident in which he and a friend blew up a toilet with an m-80, his grandmother put him in therapy sessions to deal with his emotional issues. everman began playing guitar during the therapy sessions; he initially picked up one of the guitars the therapist kept around his office, and the therapist then decided to play with him, hoping it would help him open up. he went on to play in several bands during his high school years. also, he reestablished contact with his biological father, who by that time owned a fishing boat in alaska, and worked several seasons on the boat. prior to joining with nirvana, he played guitar in a local band called stonecrow with future nirvana drummer [[
1967_births Alternative_metal_guitarists Alternative_rock_bass_guitarists Alternative_rock_guitarists American_alternative_rock_musicians American_military_personnel_of_the_Iraq_War American_rock_bass_guitarists American_rock_guitarists Columbia_University_School_of_General_Studies_alumni Grunge_musicians Living_people Members_of_the_United_States_Army_Special_Forces Musicians_from_Alaska Musicians_from_Washington_(state) Nirvana_(band)_members People_from_Kitsap_County,_Washington People_from_Kodiak_Island_Borough,_Alaska Soundgarden_members Sub_Pop_artists United_States_Army_Rangers