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The
VizzTone label group proudly presents It Wasn't Real,
the new CD from dynamic roots music singer/songwriter Gina
Sicilia. This compelling release promises to expand her burgeoning
career as one of the most creative, exciting and diverse artists in the genre
today.
Produced
by Grammy-winner Glenn Barratt, It Wasn’t Real was
recorded at Morningstar Studios in Gina’s hometown of Philadelphia, and features
the singer backed by a cadre of local all-star session players who bring a
soulful intensity that matches Sicilia’s emotionally-charged vocals.
The
new album’s nine original songs showcase Gina’s growth as a songwriter who can
deal with universal themes of love and fate, but is able to inject a personal
deep-felt longing throughout with her commanding vocal style. The lone cover is
a scintillating re-working of the great Etta James’ 1961 hit, “Don’t Cry
Baby.”
 “These
songs mean a lot to me,” Gina says. “My goal is to write in a way that’s
observant and soulful, and to get at the pleasures and the pressures of love,
joy, family, responsibility…all the complexities that are part of living. And
with Glenn’s help and the support of the great band he put together, I think
I’ve made my best album.”
Considered
a true rising star in the blues world ever since her debut album,
Allow Me to Confess, brought her world-wide acclaim in
2007, Gina manages to raise the bar even further with It Wasn’t
Real, throwing down a music gauntlet of soul, power, grit and
energy for others to follow. Her songs and performances gracefully cross genres
on the new album, too, with echoes of soul, rock and even Americana woven
throughout the tapestry of sound she’s created on the new disc, bringing Gina’s
music to an even wider audience.
“Even
though I’m mostly known in the blues world, I love and I’ve absorbed all kinds
of music — R&B, country, doo-wop, jazz, soul, pop and blues. So
when I get inspired to write a song, it’s likely to go anywhere and even combine
those styles,” Sicilia explains. Threads of those genres can also be heard in
her previous three albums, including 2008’s Hey Sugar
and 2011’s Can’t Control Myself, which were all
produced by Sicilia’s bandleader and guitarist Dave Gross.
“Working
with Glenn took me out of the comfort zone Dave and I have together, and that
made me a little nervous and forced me to push myself,” Sicilia recalls. “That
gave me the edge and the encouragement I needed to explore the entire breadth of
my vocal range, which I think people get to hear for the first time on this
album.”
Gina
Sicilia got her first true taste of performing in front of an audience at age 19
during the weekly jams held at Philadelphia blues and jazz club, Warmdaddy’s,
beginning in 2005. She’d already acquired her eclectic musical taste from her
parents, who played all kinds of music on their home stereo, including pop tunes
from her father’s native Italy. But after she ordered a packaged-for-TV
compilation album called Solid Gold Soul that featured
Bobby Bland, Etta James, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin and others, she become
hooked on old-school soul, blues and R&B.
She
had planned a career in journalism despite the encouragement of her musical
mentor, Russell Faith, an important local composer and musician who’d written
songs for Frank Sinatra. His death in 2004 galvanized Sicilia into action. “I
started taking the subway by myself to the jams at Warmdaddy’s,” she says. “From
the first time I got the courage to go onstage, the musicians there encouraged
me.”
It
was at the Warmdaddy’s jams that Gina met Dave Gross, and soon thereafter they
started dating and performing together. Gross encouraged her to record, and
Allow Me to Confess was released just after Sicilia
graduated from Temple University and was free to begin touring. The album was
soon picked up for distribution by the VizzTone Label Group and Sicilia rapidly
signed with a national roots music booking agency.
“I
see myself as always evolving, reaching for a new place where I want my music to
be and a way I want it to sound,” she proclaims. “I don’t know if I’ll find that
place, but I’ll never stop searching.”
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I just received the newest release, It Wasn't Real, from Gina Sicilia. Sicilia has a rich voice and a smooth delivery. Opening with the title track, It Wasn't Real, Sicilia delivers a sultry pop jazz track with nice sax work backing by Jay Davidson. Next up is a track that I became familiar with through my love for James Brown. This has a totally different feel with a more laid back swing type groove. Davidson again steps up with a sweet solo. Walkin Along The Avenue has a distinct 40's sound and possibly the coolest track on the release. Dennis Gruenling plays some really complimentary harp on this track and Joel Bryant adds a nice B3 line. City By The Water is a strong radio play track with a real bluesy feel. Davidson again gets the chance to shine with a real solid sax solo. The release is wrapped with country influenced Walkin' Shoes. Overall this release will appeal to a more adult audience with strong pop melodic tendencies. It is very well done.
