Gina Sicilia
Nashville, Tennessee, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
"...earthy, voluptuous voice..." - Boston Globe
Gina Sicilia is without a doubt one of the hottest performers on the contemporary blues scene. Widely diverse as far as styles are concerned and extremely compassionate regardless of what she is performing, Sicilia is the perfect package deal…easy on the eye, equally easy on the ear and with a delivery that is as powerful as any I have heard to date, and I've heard them all. Gina Sicilia is destined to take her seat among the all-time greats if she has not already done so. It is no wonder this woman is loved worldwide. - Bill Wilson - Billtown Blues Association
"Destined to take her seat among the all-time greats...Sicilia is the perfect package deal…easy on the eye,
equally easy on the ear and with a delivery that is as powerful as any I have heard to date, and I've heard them all."
- Billtown Blues Association
Ah, the good old days! The days of wine and roses. The days when singers sang songs that spoke to your heart. As I listened to Gina Sicilia's album "Can't Control Myself", I got that old fashioned feeling once again.
However, Ms Sicilia isn't another retro powered princess re-treading someone else's past glories. It is more a case of her showing respect where it is due – such as in her reverential cover of Bobby Bland's "Members Only" – and taking lessons learnt into her own song writing (and the majority of the songs on this album are, after all, penned by the lady herself). If you didn't know that, you could easily make the mistake of thinking "Before The Night Is Through" was a lost Drifters song or that the title track, "Can't Control Myself", had been written for Connie Francis. The point, however, is not that these songs would be better done by someone else but that they are the kind of songs that could easily be done by someone else and that is a good - and difficult to achieve - thing.
The rounded earthiness of Ms Sicilia's voice has much to offer too. She never quite growls and she never quite purrs but she nonetheless shows an almost feline grace in her performances here with no better example than on "Gimme A Simple Song" as she hits the groove like a fifties r'n'b singer would, showing economy where so many would over emote. That's her style and it certainly seems to work.
"Can't Control Myself" is a fine album and one that signifies that Gina Sicilia is here for the distance.
Review by: Bluesbunny - Bluesbunny.com
"Sicilia delivers a vocal and lyrical performance that rates alongside the titans of early-1960s soul." - About.com
"Not since Susan Tedeschi has a young female blues singer made such a strong impression...remarkable voice" - Blues Revue
"Gina Sicilia's voice posessess such depth and breadth that she may indeed one day be mentioned alongside the giants in the blues idiom." –Music City Blues - Music City Blues
"Gina Sicilia may be the best blues singer on the music scene today" –JazzReview.com
- JazzReview.com
Even her prodigious application to vocalising would be extraordinary, but when one learns that eight of the eleven tracks are written entirely by the performer, we are in the presence of real and emerging talent. To anyone looking for something akin to Susan Tedeschi, she's here.
-Noggin, Blues Matters
- Blues Matters!
"...dramatically different from any of her peers. Her voice is robust and earthy...Gina Sicilia has a solid first album and star potential." –Blues Wax
- Blues Wax
Discography
"Can't Control Myself" - 2011 Release
"Hey Sugar'" - 2008 Release
"Allow Me To Confess" - 2007 Release.
Photos
Bio
Career Highlights:
-Featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer's "Top 20 entertainers of 2011" alongside Bradley Cooper and Pink
-Listed in About.com's list of the "Best Blues Album's of 2011"
-Mentioned in Review Fix's "Top 10 Singer/Songwriters to Know'
-Featured in "Nick Cristiano's Best in Country / Roots 2011"
-Nominated for a 2011 Blues Blast Award - Sean Costello Rising Star Category
-Shot her music video for "Addicted" with SNL director Tanya Ryno
-National Touring Artist - over 100 gigs a year!
-Latest release, "Can't Control Myself" debuted at # 11 on the Living Blues Radio Charts on April 1st, 2011
-"Can't Control Myself" is currently #1 on Amazon.com Hot New Releases In Contemporary Blues
-Nominated for a prestigious 2008 Blues Music Award for "Best New Artist" just months after the release of her first CD, "Allow Me To Confess"
-Performed at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis in May, 2008
-Performed at such notable music festivals as the Ottawa Music Festival, Western Maryland Blues Festival, and the Cincinnati Blues Festival
-Opened for such notable acts as Johnny Winter, Joe Bonamassa, Shemekia Copeland, Beth Hart, and James Cotton
-Performed on the January, 2011 Legendary Rhythm and Blues Cruise alongside such artists as Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Joan Osborne, and The Holmes Brothers.
-Has performed for thousands of devoted fans at festivals, theatres, arts centers, and nightclubs all across the United States and Canada
-Performed on Philadelphia's popular NBC "10! Show" on March 10th, 2011
-Interviewed and performed on BB King's Bluesville, channel 74 on Sirius/XM Radio on March 1st, 2011
-"Can't Control Myself" being added to 150 AAA radio stations on April 25th, 2011
-In April, 2011, "Gimme a Simple Song" an original song from "Can't Control Myself", reached as high as #94 among the over 15 million MP3's available for download on Amazon.com
-Actively interacts with her fans - over 60,000 fans through social media!
-Her band has been performing together for 4 years now!
Young Philadelphia songstress Gina Sicilia exploded onto the scene in 2007,
as her debut CD, "Allow Me To Confess", was met with joyous acclaim by fans and critics alike. She was heralded as a distinctive new voice in the Blues, as well as an insightful songwriter and interpreter of neglected classics in the Rhythm & Blues canon.
In 2008 she was nominated for “Best New Artist Debut” at the Blues
Music Awards in Memphis, Tennessee, just as her sophomore release "Hey Sugar" proved her also to be a legitimate contender in the worlds of Classic Country and Americana.
With her new 2011 release, "Can't Control Myself", Gina broadens her stylistic palette, infusing even more Soul and Americana into her bedrock influences of Blues and R&B. This CD features seven new Gina Sicilia compositions, as well as threechoice covers borrowed from Bobby Bland, Stevie Wonder, and Ike & Tina Turner.
Gina’s singing and songwriting continue to break new ground, showing remarkable depth, power, and seemingly unstoppable growth.
"Can't Control Myself" was produced and engineered by Gina’s label mate, the insanely talented Dave Gross,who also played every instrumental track on the record except for trumpet, sax, and one lap-steel track.
Now 25 years old, the genre-defying Gina Sicilia continues to smash
pigeonholes into kindling and redefine the boundaries of soulful music.
Band Members
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