Seven-time San Diego Music Award nominee Gayle Skidmore has written over 2000 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. Translating her experiences into song has been more than just personally fulfilling. After winning Best Singer-Songwriter in the 2013 San Diego Music Awards, Best Pop Album for “Sleeping Bear” in 2014, and Best Pop in 2015, Gayle moved abroad to The Netherlands where she won De Beste Singer-Songwriter van het Groene Hart in 2017. 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.

Growing up in a musical family in San Diego, California, Gayle was fascinated with music from the start, recording little songs with her sisters from the age of 3. The early loss of her uncle and several childhood friends sparked an intuitive turn to songwriting as a way to process and cope with these events. Gayle started performing these songs in local San Diego venues at the age of 14, and finally recorded her first E.P. at the age of 18. As she began to pursue music more seriously, something that she had always done instinctively became more focused and intentional. Music became a way for Gayle to bring healing into her own life and the lives of others, growing in importance as she waded through an ever-growing mountain of loss and several traumatic events. She continued to record her music and soon started her own record label, Raincoat Records.

In the spring of 2017, Gayle Skidmore released her first full-length vinyl album and colouring book, her 20th independently released project. The Golden West was recorded with her beer sponsor, Ninkasi Brewing at Ninkasi Studios in Eugene, OR, Amusement Park Studios in Lubbock, TX, Singing Serpent Studios in San Diego, CA, and legendary studio Rancho de la Luna in Joshua Tree, CA. It features a range of styles and the singular theme of moving on from heartache and loss. Music Friday Live’s Patrick O’Heffernan said it well:

“ Gayle Skidmore sings in the line between artistry and accessibility, between whimsy and earworms, between what is an what fantastically can be. ”
Gayle’s dedication to her craft has paved the way to opening for the likes of Jason Mraz, Lisa Loeb, Steve Martin, The Jamestown Revival, 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. Gayle Skidmore’s love of whimsy is evidenced by the visual elements she adds to music, which includes three self-illustrated colouring books. 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 composes parts for her cellist and violinist. Gayle enjoys baking cookies and making origami for her fans.

Galvanized by their combined experience in the studio and on the road, San Diego based musicians, Bryan Stratman and Michael Cooper are blowing up the indie-electro scene with their new project, HYENA.  

HYENA’s way of lacing epic dance beats with timeless pop melodies has global dance floors lusting for more. Dark electronic-fueled drum beats interwoven with Coop’s organic live drums juxtapose Strat’s upbeat synths and driving bass lines seamlessly. The lush vocal interplay between the duo adds a depth that sets them apart from the rest. 

The real appeal with HYENA seems to be the way they bring together the live and electronic elements onto the stage.  Flowing like a DJ from song to song and building the energy up and down with live drums and bass, wild synth and vocoders, switching between drum machines and live instruments while singing hooks keeps the show interesting.  Their high-energy performances include a surreal visual euphoria, making the whole experience an electrifying ambush of the senses. 

HYENA has shared the stage with Dj's like Diplo and Afrojack as well as Indie/Rock Bands like M83, AWOLNATION, The Bravery and Portugal the Man - meshing well with both types of artists.  

Having mastered the ability to blend the sounds of the current electronic movement with the timeless sound of Indie rock, HYENA is at the forefront of the next movement in music.

I love music and hate the sound of music at the same time. 


vintage piano-pop = “Throwback Pop” -  

Kevin Max's voice is like nothing else on the planet. It is a purist mixture of earnest presence and haunting romance. Max's vocal vibrato, texture, range and phrasing have drawn early comparisons to a younger Bryan Ferry or Freddie Mercury. After two and a half decades in the studio and on the road, Kevin's overall songwriting and creativity widened and arced to create something truly unique. 
From 1987 to 2002, he was the voice behind Dctalk and massive songs such as 'Jesus Freak' and 'Just Between You And Me.' Dctalk quickly became the biggest selling CCM act in history, claiming four Grammy awards and selling millions of albums worldwide. In 2001 Max made his first solo album 'Stereotype Be' on the EMI label and has continued to make a string of critically acclaimed and diverse albums ever since.  Hailed as one of the most enigmatic and unforgettable voices in music, Max has blazed a trail through many genres;  including rock, pop, electronica, jazz and alternative.

This is where I share other music, my main sound cloud account is "scheffmusic"

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