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Gina Leishman: In My Skin
ByLike Waits, Leishman has a knack for a turn of phrase. Her lost loves don't deter her merriment, even when she sings "He said I feel I've known you all my life/She said I know/He said I think I love you/And by the way have you met my wife. And, like Waits, she has the good sense to strip her arrangements down to this simple string quartet. Leishman's affectionate ukulele playing is accompanied by sparse violin, bass, and guitar.
Before Leishman fronted her own band she was a co-founder of the septet Kamikaze Ground Crew, with Steven Bernstein and Doug Wieselman. She co-leads Msr. Wau-Wa band, a quintet dedicated to the songs of Bertolt Brecht, and can also be found working in theater and, has written the opera Burning Dreams.
Her vinegary lyrics are for self described hammock songs, strummed and tasting somewhat acerbic. Love is sometimes lost; mostly the femme fatale is gone before she loses the game: "Here today gone tomorrow/Sometimes it rains sometimes shine/And so when I'm pining or feeling blue/I pack my bags and I don't think of you.
Leishman's self-referential portrait, "Girl With A Curl, is a wispy tale of a girl's playing with music, musicians, and among men. The child's song "Nightwind learns the lessons of 9/11: "Cries on the night wind/Echoes of empires' fall/Ours in the making/Sighs on the night wind/Falling of buildings tall/There for the taking.
The favorite composition here might be the ancient wisdom of "Food First (Love Later), and she wasn't born Italian! Here's a sample... You can try and eat your dreams/But they'll leave you wanting more.
Track Listing
Girl With A Curl; (Another) Foolish Heart; Food First (Love Later); Le Chat; Night Wind; Green Water; Merry Month of May; Leaving; My Heart Belongs to Daddy; The Scenic Route; Here Today Gone Tomorrow; In My Skin.
Personnel
Gina Leishman
multi-instrumentalistGina Leishman: vocals, baritone ukulele, piano, glass; Charlie Burnham: violin; Greg Cohen: bass; Matt Munisteri: guitar; Marc Ribot: guitar; Todd Sickafoose: bass; Kenny Wollesen: percussion.
Album information
Title: In My Skin | Year Released: 2007 | Record Label: GCQ Records
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About Gina Leishman
Instrument: Multi-instrumentalist
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