BAYLEN

It's that time of year again. The summer heat slowly dwindling and the scent of sausage and funnel cakes wafting through the autumn air can mean only one thing: The fair is in town! This year, the Pensacola Interstate Fair will have all of its usual attractions, but it will also be serving up something new in the entertainment department that will literally be music to your ears.

In addition to the main entertainment stage, for the first time, the Fair will feature the Midway Stage, an entire stage devoted to local and regional talent for you to feast upon along with your cardboard platter of curly fries.

Here's your guide to some of the local talent that will be featured at this year's fair:

Baylen: Two guitars plus a girl with a sweet voice and a guy with some folk-rock riffs up his sleeve equals Baylen, a Pensacola acoustic indie-rock two piece. With their unique and refreshing sound, they're irresistible.
- Pensacola News Journal

Music: Baylen CD Release Party
by Duwayne Escobedo

Baylen CD Review

Baylen

Baylen's self-titled album features the wispy, crystal clear voice of Tanya Gallagher, who also plays the acoustic guitar and mean snapping fingers. The other half of Baylen is Jonathan Britnell, who plays guitar, bass, keyboard and the hand drum. The Pensacola duo's self-produced album can be described as acoustic folk pop. But on the tracks are jazzy, funky and R&B sounds as well. The music and songwriting by Gallagher and Britnell have a calming, feel-good effect like the brook pictured on its disc cover. Besides Gallagher's voice the most appealing part of the CD are the many guitar parts spread throughout the lyrics. If you need to be refreshed, then listen to Baylen's 10-track CD.

Hot Tracks: "Pendulum," "Don't Go," "Slowdown" and "Concrete"

You'll Like It, If You Like: Current female sirens, such as Feist, Regina Spektor, Rilo Kiley and Amy Winehouse.

Baylen is having a CD Release Party with Special Guest Matt Mills at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9 at The Basement, 609 N. Alcaniz St., which is near the corner of Jackson and Alcaniz streets. Admission is free and there will be free food. You can purchase the CD for $10.

To listen to some of the recently released album's tracks, go to baylenmusic.com. - In Weekly

An easygoing night filled with laughs, sing-alongs and a variety of music, dances and poetry made this year's talent show sparkle with remembrance.

Another special add-on to the Oct. 25 show was the guest emcee, singer and songwriter Nick Motil. With his fun ballads, smart-alecky remarks and bare feet, he moved the show forward until the end of the night, when he awarded the top three performers.

First place winners and recipients of $300 were Tanya Gallagher, with a bold voice that could be mistaken for Carrie Underwood, and Jonathan Britnell, who performed an original song, "Don't Go."


Every year the talent show presents an array of worthy talent, and this year was no exception. The only thing missing from the entire show was a ventriloquist. Oh well, maybe next year. - The Voyager

Thursday, December 13, 2007


Baylen Featured in this weeks InWeekly!
Category: Music

Poetic Lyrics
by Bradley "B.J." Davis Jr.

BAYLEN USES SINGER'S BOOK OF POETRY FOR BASIS OF MANY OF ITS SONGS

Writing poems came naturally to Tanya Gallagher as a young girl. Now, the 20-year-old singer and guitarist uses many of those words she first put to paper in a daily journal to create pleasantly hypnotic and thoughtful melodies.

"I didn't even know that I was writing songs," Gallagher says today. "It all just started as writing little poems. When I was younger, I wanted so badly to keep a daily journal, but I always grew bored with writing about what happened throughout my day. Writing poems seemed to come easily for me and my journal sort of morphed into this book of poetry. I've always had a fascination with rhyming words. When I learned to play guitar the poems seemed to fit the music quite nicely."

The Pensacola native now shares the stage with her brother-in-law, 22-year-old guitarist Jonathan Britnell. The acoustic duo recently formed the group Baylena name they took from the downtown streetand released their first album "It's Been So Long."

Music has always played a huge role in Gallagher's life. She grew up listening to tunes with her father from greats like James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac and Joni Mitchell. She also fell in love with such groups as Donovan, Damien Rice and the Dave Matthews Band.

"Growing up there was always music playing in my house," Gallagher recalls. "I would listen to groups like The Staple Singers, who when they sang about that place where ain't nobody cryin' you wanted to go there. You could hear the woman's soul."

She hopes to have the same effect with her music. Touching people's lives in special ways is why she plays.

"I just love what music can do to people," Gallagher says. "It takes you places; you can transcend your surroundings. It can change your mood or your entire outlook on life. I wanted my thoughts to be able to do that to people."

Her music aspirations became reality when her sister Jessica's husband, Jonathan Britnell, agreed to record some of her songs. They ended up forming Baylen.

"He and my sister met at church and began dating," she says. "It was not until after they had been married for about a year that Jonathan and I began playing music together. It started with him just recording a few of my songs, and ended up as us forming Baylen. He's a phenomenal guitarist, and it is really quite fun to write songs together."

In fact, Baylen's music has become a family affair. Gallagher's sister, Jessica, and their mother "are in a dead heat for the title of Biggest Fan," Gallagher says.

"Jess is there for most all that we do," Gallagher says. "She travels with us to all of the shows, sells CDs, passes out flyers, and meets new contacts. I would definitely say that she plays an intricate part in the band. It may not be musical, but it is of great importance."

On Baylen's recently released first album one of the most popular tracks is "Getaway," which was inspired by Gallagher's coming-of-age period in her life.

"The time that I wrote that song I did feel that I needed to get away," she says. "I had just graduated from high school and everyone was bugging me or pressuring me to go to this school or that school. I finally just had to step back and take a minute to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. The song was my way of escaping."

If there's one thing Gallagher doesn't want to escape from right now, it's Baylen's fans.

"Hopefully as the CD is distributed more and more the fan base will continue to grow," she says. "We absolutely love our fans."

info@inweekly.net

For more information on Baylen, visit the group's website at www.baylenmusic.com. Baylen is scheduled to perform Monday, Dec. 17 at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, Ga., a popular spot for a number of local acts performing in the Southeast.


- Independent News Weekly Magazine