I met Gina some 12 or 13 years ago. It was either at “Toes Tavern” or “Alex Cantina” in downtown Santa Barbara, and we were all jumping high in the air, while on the stage the lead girl was already sweeping us away with her first band, Liquid Sunshine. I was so mesmerized by her deep velvet voice caressing your mad soul in an instant that I even tried to sign her to a (now R.I.P.) Wonderland Music label. A few years later, Gina decided to go solo with a wide experience in touring and rocking all over the planet. She graduated from a strong girl to a stronger woman with a kick in her guitar and a galaxy of poetic words for lyrics. Attempting to define her style is futile, since the lady is like a chameleon and can go from rock to country to pop, depending on her mood, the crowd, and the alignment–or not–of the stars.

With Miles Away, her new album on Face West Records (www.facerecords.com), Gina is going even deeper into the exploration of her inner voice and brings us closer to center of the Earth–I mean, the Heart. Even though she aches at times, like in the title song, she gives us hope that nothing can take her from the light over and over: “I could burn tonight but won’t fire.” In the notes of the CD booklet, she explains how these songs came to her while roaming on tour and staying at various Travelodge hotels. So we do travel with her, we let ourselves get lost into the night before being found again at dawn.  In another song, “Let’s Fall Apart,” Gina confesses: “I’m at a loss for words and how to say,” but the riffs of her guitar, accompanied by blessed musicians, are taking us beyond the dark surrounding and deliver a rainbow of vivid hope. Even though there is sadness in life, Gina knows how to let it sink on the side and focus on what counts, what is true salvation and happiness: “I will take your wind, just not your cancer.”

The muse of Gina is life in its whole, the dark and the bright side, the living and the dead. The gentle gipsy goddess is seizing the day, sharing moments, and listening to the pulse under her veins. The voice is guiding her through the maze of life and she is delivering one more compelling transforming essay on what it is to be a human being: pains followed by joys, by sorrows, by smiles. Forever a clash of Titans between us and the mysterious destiny waiting to be embraced.  Even though “It’s a long way to heaven, and hell lives next door,” we won’t give up–we will stand up and always count on Gina’s eternal “sunshine” to keep us solid–no more liquid, eternal–no more ephemeral.

Get news about Gina Villalobos, tour dates and more at: www.ginavillalobos.com. 

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