Gayle Skidmore

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Gayle Skidmore began writing and composing when she was only eight years old, recording songs in her private diary instead of traditional journal entries.  A classicall- trained pianist from the age of four, she had little difficulty picking up other instruments.  At fourteen, Gayle played her first show at a local coffee shop.  She had found her niche!  Realizing that she wanted to pursue music as a career, she began challenging herself to improve her songwriting and musicianship.  In 2002, she released her first album, a five-song E.P. titled "Gayle."

After experiencing the death of several of her friends and relatives over a period of two years, Gayle Skidmore's songwriting took on an even deeper purpose:  it became a way for her to process her pain and to relate to others.  Though she faced heavy trials, Gayle began to find hope in her faith.  Gayle began to realize that she could help other people find hope and beauty in life through creating beautiful music.  She found happiness in creating songs that people could deeply connect with and worked harder than ever to develop as a songwriter and musician.  She began to compose songs on the piano, her first instrument, and picked up the guitar, banjo and dulcimer as well.

With the encouragement of friend Tyrone Wells, Gayle began to gain confidence in her songwriting, winning the True American Records songwriting contest in 2003 with her song "China."  In 2004 she released a live album, which was followed by her 2005 release, the "So Deep" E.P.  This E.P. features three songs that are essentially three movements of the same song that tell the story of the birth and death of a relationship.

In early 2006 Gayle began playing with a bassist, cellist, violinist and drummer.  Utilizing her skills in music theory she started composing parts for her string players and discovered that she enjoyed it immensely.  Around this time she started her own record label, Raincoat Records, and released the single "Turn Up the Radio," a song she had written when a friend she was beginning to date was killed.

After finishing up her degree in Theology, Biblical Studies and Philosophy, Gayle started work on her Master of Arts in Theological Studies at Bethel Seminary.  She has a great love for languages, and hoped to continue her study of Ancient Hebrew. Gayle soon realized that touring and graduate school, as she says,  "do not like each other," and decided to take a break from her studies to more diligently pursue a career in music.  She released her "Paper Box" E.P. in August 2007 for her Tour de Felicite with Rheanna Downey.

In early 2007, Gayle began work on her latest album, which features six songs produced by Gayle and co-produced by the incredibly talented Aaron Bowen.  This album, an E.P. entitled "Cowley Road," was released  May 31, 2008.  It is an organic recording that well represents Gayle's talent for what Bowen calls her ability to "make music art again."  Gayle was thrilled to have the opportunity to have more creative control over the album, and even more delighted with the prospect of playing melodica, glockenspiel and jingle bells on a few of her songs.  As Gayle's song-count passes the 1000 mark, she continues to experiment with different styles and instrumentation, and especially enjoys the shows she plays with her strings players.