Gina Sicilia

Philadelphia-based vocalist and songwriter Gina Sicilia has been actively singing the blues and writing her own songs since she was an adolescent. Exposed to blues and roots music by her parents, Sicilia began writing her own songs as a 12-year-old. By the time she was 16, she had some of the songs that would be included on her debut album. She graduated in 2007 from Temple University in Philadelphia with a degree in journalism. It was during her sophomore year in college that she began attending the weekly blues jams at Warmdaddy's in Philadelphia. She cut her teeth there and began to learn and develop as she associated with blues veterans, some of whom would help her record her first few demo discs. When her debut album, Allow Me to Confess, was released in 2007, the critical reaction was positive. She was called an important new voice in the blues with a maturity far beyond her years, evident in her choice of covers of oft-overlooked rhythm & blues classics. In the spring of 2008, her album was nominated for "Best New Artist Debut" at the W.C. Handy/Blues Music Awards in Memphis. Her second release, Hey Sugar, let fans know that while she was only in her early twenties, she could also tackle alternative country and Americana tunes with virtuosity and aplomb. Her third release was the powerful Can't Control Myself, released in March 2011, just days before her 26th birthday. Sicilia widened her stylistic palette even more with this disc, fusing classic blues, classic R&B, soul, and Americana tunes into a cohesive whole. She included three covers made famous by Bobby "Blue" Bland, Stevie Wonder, and Ike & Tina Turner. Her third album was recorded and engineered by her VizzTone labelmate, multi-instrumentalist, and singer/songwriter Dave Gross at his home studios in northern New Jersey. Sicilia devoted much of her 2013 full-length album It Wasn't Real to original material, a trend she continued on the 2014 EP The Alabama Sessions, which was recorded in the legendary soul city of Muscle Shoals. In 2016, she switched labels to Blue Elan Records, which released the Sunset Avenue EP in August of that year. ~ Richard J. Skelly