Gayle Skidmore
Seven-time San Diego Music Award nominee Gayle Skidmore has written over 2300 songs since she began songwriting at the age of 8. Her natural ability and innate passion for music made her music career inevitable, and her tumultuous life has given her plenty of inspiration. Classically trained on the piano from the age of 4, Gayle Skidmore also plays over 20 other instruments, including the mountain dulcimer, banjo, folk harp and balalaika.
“Gayle Skidmore sings in the line between artistry and accessibility, between whimsy and earworms, between what is and what fantastically can be.”
Gayle’s dedication to her craft has paved the way to opening for the likes of Jason Mraz, Lisa Loeb, Grant Lee Phillips, The Jamestown Revival, Kate Voegele, Greg Laswell, Tyrone Wells, Sean and Sara Watkins, Sam Phillips, and Coeur d’Pirate. She has recorded with such artists as The Softlightes, Bushwalla, Jason Mraz and Tyrone Wells, and continues to explore new styles. Her song “Only Ever You” features Dave Catching of Eagles of Death Metal on guitar. Recently transplanted to The Netherlands, she continues to enchant with her singular, transportive style, and her heartfelt performances.
Gayle Skidmore finds endless inspiration in the whirlwind of life, has never experienced writer’s block, and is always experimenting with new formats. She spent 2019 and 2020 releasing a new song every single week on Patreon, and in 2021 is creating new videos. She’ll be releasing several new projects in 2021. Gayle Skidmore’s love of whimsy is evidenced by the visual elements she adds to music, which includes three self-illustrated colouring books, as well as acting as creative director for several of her music videos. Germany’s prominent newspaper, the Seuddeutsche Zeitung, named her “Die Schutzpatronin der Gartenzwerge,” the Patron Saint of Garden Dwarves, which she proudly vaunts. When she isn’t busy learning a new instrument, singing, painting, or writing lyrics and melodies, she enjoys swing dancing and studying theology. Gayle has been known to bake cookies and make origami for her fans.