GAIL WADE: Journey

Gail Wade

Journey

© 2005 Gail Wade (783707141107)

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An enticing variety of styles make this cd a must have for anyone with a love of all acoustic music. A strong guitarist with a rich soulful voice, Gail Wade brings forth fresh renditions of folk, blues, swing and heartfelt originals.

notes

Gail Wade has been performing publicly since the early 1980's. Her first musical experiences came while living in Brunswick, Maine. Gail worked on area horse farms and on the Tall Ships out of Camden Harbor. She would work the galley by day and sing on the deck in the evening. Gail has appeared on stages both as a solo musician and most recently as a member of the former CT-based band, "The Hot Flashes".
During the past twenty years, Gail has gained the respect of audiences throughout the USA and Europe.
She has most recently (July 2005) toured Ireland with singer/songwriter Gary Ferguson.
A strong guitarist with a rich and soulful voice, Gail brings forth fresh renditions of folk, blues, bluegrass and swing favorites. Though steeped in the roots of American music, her diverse array of influences enable Gail to handle the transition from one musical genre to the next, with a fluidity that will foster a true appreciation of her talent.
Her beautifully crafted original songs such as "Anna's Owl" and "Harder Every Day" are certain to touch your heart. Whether she performs solo or with her band, Gail's guitar work and wondrous voice combine to create an enchanting performance you will not soon forget.

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  • Journey
    author: Taylor Bechert

    Very touching and soothing. The instruments and vocals are meshed in a way that makes the listener feel as if they are sitting in your living room with you. I appreciate the message of each song and feel that this is a very high quality album.

  • Relaxed set of earthy & enchanting material with intelligent, thoughtful sentime
    author: Joe Ross

    Playing Time – 42:35 -- Being an eclectic musician with many interests can help a versatile performer land many engagements, but it can also make an artist difficult to categorize. No matter because who needs categorization? Grounded as a singer/songwriter and guitarist, Gail Wade demonstrates comfort with folk, blues, jazz, and swing idioms. With regular performing during the past 25 years, I suspect that she’s built a considerable fanbase for her approach to music. She's sung on the Tall Ships in Maine, toured Europe as a member of “The Hot Flashes,” and completed and Irish tour with singer/songwriter Gary Ferguson (who harmonizes here with Gail on her self-penned song, “Harder Every Day”). On “Journey,” the core band includes Gail Wade (lead & harmony vocals, guitar, clawhammer banjo), Peggy Ann Harvey (fiddle, flute, sax, harmonica), Kevin Lynch (mandolin, lead guitar, National steel guitar), and John Urbanik (string bass). On one track apiece, she’s joined by Stephan Wade (lead guitar), Ian Wade (percussion), and Gary Ferguson (harmony vocal). “Journey” will launch Wade to new heights as more folks discover her earthy and enchanting material. Her relaxed and seamless set offers plenty of intelligently thoughtful sentiment. Wade opens with an interesting rendition of “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” with some countering sax riffs that impart a personality of their own. Other covers come from Roseanne Cash/John Levanthal, Deborah Hornblow, Pam Gadd, Richard Torrance/John Haeny, and Mark Irwin/Irene Kelley. Her scat in “Rio De Janeiro Blue” shows another way that she embellishes a song, and my guess is that learned this song from Nicolette Larson’s cover of it in the 1980s. The banjo and flute in “Will You Remember Me?” give that piece a haunting old-time, almost Celtic, flavor. With a more erudite, poetic approach to songwriting than Wade’s more direct style, Deborah Hornblow’s “Winter” is a beautiful love song that requires contemplation. Gail’s rendition of bluegrass songwriter Pam Gadd’s “All the Old Men are Gone” is quite different than the version I’ve heard Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver do. Most impressively, Gail Wade wrote six of the songs on “Journey.” Lyrics aren’t included in the CD jacket, and I hope she’ll find a way to upload them on-line. To analyze her skill development as a tunesmith, I started with her blues at track #8, “Hurry Home Daddy,” that Gail wrote way back in 1980. It’s rather standard fare, enhanced by Harvey’s harmonica and Lynch’s guitar. Written between 2000-2004, Wade’s other originals have thoughtfully flowing melodic twists and lyrical turns. I appreciate songs that are straight-forward, conversational, and that have a beginning, middle and end. Such is the case with songs like “Try it On for Size,” Harder Every Day,” and the spiritually-tinged title track, “Journey.” Her messages are clear and sincere. A ballad like “Anna’s Owl” has lyrics that set a stage, pull us into the story, grab our attention and hold it until the song’s conclusion. Gail’s bouncy instrumental “Down the Kennebec” conjures imagery of river rafting in Maine. Similar to Karla Bonoff’s singing, Gail Wade’s alluring voice is silky smooth, and her folk/blues-based repertoire makes for an enchanting listen, especially at dusk when in a reflective mood. I’d like to hear Gail sing some more duets with a male voice. Perhaps a song like “That’s How You Know” (recorded as a duet by Steve Wariner and Nicolette Larson) would work for her and Gary Ferguson. I wonder if Gail has ever had any interest in singing solid roadhouse R&B. That type of production could convince a major label that she’s more than just a versatile folkie with a sweet voice. No matter what direction she takes, I’m certain that major recognition and success are just on the horizon for Gail Wade. (Joe Ross)

  • Gail Wade’s "Journey;" A Maiden Voyage Into Some Terrific Songs and Singing, and
    author: Roger Lubinj

    On first listening there’s a lot of music in Gail Wade’s CD Journey and it continues to grow with each succeeding listening. It’s been playing for a few days now, and I think I’ve finally begun to take it all in. Wade is unique in that she’s both a fine songwriter as well as a good interpreter of other people’s music. There’s a range of styles here, from the Fats Waller classic Ain’t Misbehavin’ to Roseann Cash’ Will You Remember Me, to Mark Irwin and Irene Kelley’s Cajun flavored, finger-picking, highly syncopated, It Wasn’t Me. Although her roots are firmly planted in the folk, singer-songwriter tradition, she’s a complete musician. She’s difficult to categorize and that’s a good thing. If you were forced to categorize Gail Wade, you’d probably come up with the hybrid title of folk, blues, and jazz oriented ballad singer. While she shows her talent on tunes such as It Wasn’t Me, I really like her work as a singer and songwriter on her own blues-oriented Try It On For Size, her gospel-tinged title track Journey, as well as on the Richard Torrance-John Heany composition, Rio De Janeiro Blue. It doesn’t hurt at all that she surrounds herself with terrific musicians, especially the multitalented Peggy Ann Harvey, who graces this album with her work on fiddle, soprano sax, viola, harmonica, and flute. That’s five instruments, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she played five more too. But Gail Wade is a fine lead and rhythm guitarist in her own right who’s backed by Kevin Lynch on mandolin and guitar, John Urbanik on upright bass, guitarist Steve Wade, and Ian Wade on percussion. Even Gary Ferguson lends a harmony vocal on Harder Every Day. This is her first CD, and I’d surely like to see more from her. Six of the tunes are her compositions, and judging from their stunning quality, I’d love listening to an entire CD of her own songs. She’s got enough variety in her work and style to pull it off too. Gail Wade has gone far beyond that bedeviling hobgoblin of many singer-songwriters: everything a medium tempo, syncopated, finger picking tune. This collection has some of those tunes, but it also has blues, ballads, ragtime flavored jazzy elements, and even a bit of Cajun flavoring for lagniappe.

  • mellow, soothing, AND upbeat
    author: Connie May

    Every aspect of life is covered. Whatever your mood, you can't help but enjoy this JOURNEY.

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