“It became impossible for me to fully pursue both at the same time, so I made the decision to quit school for rock ‘n’ roll.” “I realized I was more passionate about pursuing music as a career than teaching,” she said. The decision took place while studying abroad in Oxford, England, while she was in grad school studying education. I always wanted to be a musician, and it’s been my way of life for my whole life.” She was already a veteran of the local club circuit when she officially decided to make music her career. It wasn’t my favorite experience, but I knew I’d grow to love it. People were polite and my friends were supportive. “I brought a notebook full of songs and didn’t really look up at anyone or talk between songs. That first show only went “okay,” but it was enough to make up Skidmore’s mind about music. Opening for her at the Casbah last year was a dream come true,” Skidmore said. “Lisa Loeb’s music opened me up to the whole singer-songwriter world, and I really connected to the female artists that I discovered during that time. “When I finally started sharing my songs with my friends and family, they encouraged me to try to book a show.” It was the acquisition of a copy Lisa Loeb’s Tails album that inspired her to follow her family and friends’ advice. “I had been writing songs since I was eight and playing the piano since I was four, so it was a natural progression for me,” she recalled. Skidmore and her sisters all played the flute in the middle school band as well as played the piano for their church, but she didn’t take her original music to the public until she began performing in local coffeehouses when she was 14 years old. I’m grateful that my parents chose to give all of us piano lessons and that they encouraged our artistic pursuits alongside academics.” I have a few embarrassing home videos of those performances that I hope never surface. The three of us would sing and play the piano together regularly, and we enjoyed putting on plays and singing for our relatives. “My sisters and I all had piano lessons as children, and both of my parents are musicians, though not professionally. “Music was a huge part of my childhood,” Skidmore said. But she has a vision, and it’s been with her since she was a small child, when she began composing the first of what now numbers over 2,000 original songs. Through thick and thin, music is clearly what drives her, sometimes at the expense of things around her. She is indeed a lifer, a full-time musician. Walking around Balboa Park, doing a bit of people watching amongst an interview, it’s easy to discern just how passionate Skidmore is about her music. Born and raised in Spring Valley, she now calls North Park home. Gayle Skidmore is that rare item, a native San Diegan. Skidmore has had definite successes in recent years, including great song placements, awards, tours and more, but even with all that in her resume, it feels like her career is just beginning to skyrocket. Indeed, she crafts songs not just worthy of hitting radio but also of repeated listens. What we have here is a kaleidoscope of sound, at times whimsical, at times deep, but always multi-layered, full of intricate arrangements, and loaded with imagination. In decades of my covering artists, it’s rarely been this difficult. Heading into this article one of the editorial requests was to make sure and describe Skidmore’s music. Each sounds different than the one before. She also strays into torch song areas and she’s not afraid to include dance elements, modern synths, or whatever it takes to create a strong piece of music. To some she’s a pop/rock genius with touches of Elton, Brian Wilson, and Lennon/McCartney in her melodies. True, she often performs solo, with a guitar, banjo, or keyboard, but that only touches on one aspect of her songs. She is indeed a brilliant artist, a gifted tunesmith, a virtuoso musician, and more. There are many ways to describe music, but even with a wide palette of descriptions, that wouldn’t do Gayle Skidmore’s songs justice.
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