Gwen Swick

Country of origin:

Canada

Type of music generally:

Evocative/eclectic

Status:

Most recent release, love and gold (2001)

See also:

CBC Music's page for Gwen Swick

Gwen Swick was formerly with the band Tamarack and is a member of the groups Quartette and The Marigolds

Quartette's bio page for Gwen Swick

Comparisons:

Jane Siberry, Joni Mitchell

Covers/own material:

Own, occasional cowriting

General comments:

I haven't heard anything like this since the last good Jane Siberry album. (stjarnell@yahoo.com)

Recommended first album:

love and gold is the first we've heard

Recordings:

• Gwen Swick (1993)
• A Pebble of Mercy (1995)
• love and gold (2001)

love and gold

Release info:

2001—Spin Records—SP20014CD

Availability:

See Gwen Swick's site for availability

Ecto priority:

Highly recommended

Group members:

Gwen Swick—vocals, backing vocals

Guest artists:

Kevin Breit—electric guitar, 12-string banjo, mandocello
Steve Hogg—acoustic guitar, wawa guitar, electric bass
George Koller—electric bass, acoustic bass, buzz bass
Art Avalos—percussion
Randall Coryell—drums, piano percussion, drum kit
J. Richard Hutt—additional programming
Wendy Davis, Katalin Kiss, Cherie Camp, Anna Swick-Coryell, Divine Earth Essence, Cindy Church, Lis Soderberg—backing vocals
Steve O'Connor—accordion, organ
Ken Greer—electric guitar
Steve Adams—acoustic guitar
Jeff Bird—octave mandolin, percussion, keyboard, 8-string bass, electric mandolin
Kurt Schefter—electric guitar
Gary Breit—Wurlitzer, acoustic piano
Russ Boswell—electric bass
John Sheard—acoustic piano
Don Rooke (The Henrys)—dobro, lap steel guitar, Hawaiian kona
Victor Bateman—acoustic bass
Neil Clark—keyboard, guitar, bass, programming
Drew Waters—electric bass
Danny MIchel—electric guitar

Produced by:

J. Richard Hutt

Comments:

Gwen Swick's music is artfully done. She writes literary lyrics and paints evocative stories with them. Musically she has a lot of Jane Siberry's loose and free approach to songs. Love and Gold feels like a whole rather than a collection of moments. Not that there aren't stunning moments here. The opener "Amazed" is a lengthy, inspired piece. The slightly silly "Catsong" is a fine song too. Swick even rocks out convincingly on "Middle of a Hurricane".
     A marvel of an album. (stjarnell@yahoo.com)

Thanks to Anna Maria Stjärnell for her work on this entry.