Gail Wade

Gail Wade, "Journey"
Wade has an exquisite voice that ranges easily between delicate and robust on her first album. The Colchester singer wrote six of the 12 songs here and chose covers that span genres. There's a jaunty, low-key version of Ain't Misbehavin' and a melancholy take on Rosanne Cash's Will You Remember Me?. The title track, an original, is a folk-gospel number with sputtering harmonica in the background, and the bluesy ballad Try It On For Size is reminiscent of early Bonnie Raitt.
~ Hartford Courant ( Hartford, CT / October 2005)
"Sound Check: Music News & Views" by Eric R. Danton
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- Eric R Danton, The Hartford Courant

Review (in Dutch) from Strictly Country Magazine in the Netherlands:
Voor haar eerste solo CD schreef Gail van helft van de songs zelf, en ze laat zich kennen als een gevoelige folk-achtige, soms wat bluesy, soms wat jazzy singer-songwriter.
De begeleiding is voor het grootste deel in handen van muzikanten die ook bij de Hot Flashes speelden:Peggy, Kevin en John, met hier en dar een enkele bijdrage van de andere genoemden. Alles zeer smaakvol en akoestisch.
Peggy Harvey is iemand die de meest verstokte purist nog kan verzoenen met wat zij uit een en deze stijl onverwacht instrument aals har sopraan saxofoon tovert. Ende speelstijl van Kevin Lynch is iets waarvoor het woord subtiel lijkt te zijn uitgevonden.
Een hartelijke aanbeveling voor deze prachtig klinkende eigen productie van Gail Wade is op zijn plaats. Rienk Janssen ~ Vlagtwedde, The Netherlands


English Translation:
For her first solo CD Gail wrote half of the songs. She can be known as a sensitive folk, somewhat bluesy, somewhat jazzy singer-songwriter. The accompaniment is, for the most part, in the hands of musicians who played also with The Hot Flashes: Peggy, Kevin and John...with here and there some contributions from several genres.
Everything very tasteful and acoustic. Peggy Harvey is someone who is mostly a purist, but still can conform with the different styles. An unexpected instrument, her soprano saxophone, works magic. The playing of Kevin Lynch is something for which the word 'subtle' seems to have been invented.
A cordial recommendation is offered for Gail Wade's splendidly sounding self-production. Rienk Janssen ~ Vlagtwedde, The Netherlands


~ Rienk Janssen is founder/editor of SC Magazine and co-producer of the annual European World of Bluegrass. He has received two major awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association for his years of dedication and contributions to Bluegrass & Acoustic music in Europe.

















- Strictly Country Records, The Netherlands

"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 songwriter and singer 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 good 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 own compositions, and judging from their stunning quality, I'd like to see 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."
Lou Krieger ~ Palm Springs, CA (November 2005)
{Lou is a columnist/author/instructor/expert player of the game of poker}

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- Lou Krieger~Palm Springs CA

There's so much to appreciate about Gail Wade in this excellent debut recording, it's difficult deciding where to start. First, Gail's enticing vocal range permits her to move with ease from sultry and mischievous to poignant and heartwarming. Her diverse musical apprenticeship prepared her to feel at home in a broad variety of musical styles, whether it is bluegrass, blues, jazz/swing, folk, or country. In addition, she plays guitar, clawhammer banjo, wrote six of the compositions, and she produced the CD.
The standard "Ain't Misbehavin" opens the collection with Gail's playful, romantic vocals, along with a jazzy rhythm guitar, backed by Kevin Lynch on mandolin, Peggy Ann Harvey on soprano sax, and John Urbanik on upright bass. From there, she changes moods nicely on her lovely folk original, "Anna's Owl," with Peggy's plaintive fiddle runs.
Gail gets down and bluesy on "Try It On For Size," which includes some smoldering guitar work by Kevin. Then it's off to Brazil with the Latin "Rio De Janeiro Blues" before returning to American folks with "All The Old Men Are Gone." The one instrumental of the CD is Gail's lilting "Down The Kennebec," with everyone taking a turn on guitar, fiddle and mandolin.
With her broad and very tasteful musical and vocal range, it's easy to envision Gail showing up, and excelling, just about anywhere: the Grand Ole Opry, your local jazz venue, a Top 40 country , or pop radio station.
She and her band are a refreshing treat and a musical force deserving of big-time discovery.
~ Bluegrass Now Magazine ( October 2006)
"cd Reviews" by Joe Faletta - Bluegrass Now Magazine