Album Notes

Sacred Ground, is primarily a solo acoustic album filled with deceptively complex and colorful multi-layered songs which weave tapestries of visionary poetic images of surprising scope and depth. There is a striking cohesiveness inherent in the album, framed by French’s own spare and precise acoustic guitar playing which fits nicely with the warmly pastoral jacket art. But it is French’s sustained display throughout of the most remarkable of vocal capabilities, with a delivery that ranges from the most subtle nuances on some numbers to a carefully measured intensity on others, which really makes Sacred Ground an exceptional album.



"Not only does Salt Lake resident Gina French write exceptional songs of great depth and beauty, she has the ability to perform them in an utterly disarming manner. Sacred Ground, her spectacular debut CD, is one of those rare finds which only comes along once in a great while. And even though it is her first recording, it reveals an artist with significant ability who possesses maturity and a vision of purpose which could only have been developed through years of perseverance and hard work. Each song on Sacred Ground is a powerful poetic statement. "Elements" rolls along like a gently flowing river, and with warm, embracing images it praises life and love. It is a disarmingly beautiful song. One of the finest songs on the album is "Cathedral Skies". Different colors mark the hues of the skies French portrays with their various moods. It is a song filled with vibrant poetic imagery suggesting many things, including thankfulness, joy and restful peace, following life's great journey. Overall, Sacred Ground is a treasure chest of glowing images which have been painted with a carefully measured intensity. The listener is rewarded many times over with this music. Every now and then an artist like Gina French comes out of nowhere possessing the uncanny ability to blow you pleasantly away." - Smokey Koelsch, Catalyst Magazine

"Women with guitars and songs of plangent yearning and melancholy reminiscence is hardly an original concept. Indeed, the songs of Gina French might be interchangeable with hordes of similar acts if it weren't for her voice, a force so strong it could lift girders, and her deceptively simple guitar stylings. Better still, her exquisitely rendered songs never wear out their welcome - the gorgeous "Place" is good for dozens of consecutive listens, sounding better with each spin. This is music for throwing rose petals into the wind." - Ben Fulton, City Weekly

"Sacred Ground is not a "folk - flavored" recording. I can't hope to capture how gorgeously enchanting the disc actually is. Gina French (the artist) and Tony Korologos (the producer) multi tracked the vocals. French is singing back-up to herself. The result is stunningly, achingly beautiful. It is ethereal and calming music that approaches the dreaded "new age". Song titles, the CD title and song length all suggest "new age", but don't give in to temptation. "Cathedral Skies" and "Child of War" are haunting, both lyricaly and musically, but Sacred Ground is certainly not "new age" or "folk flavored" music. The CD is an experience in elegance." - William Athey, The Event