GiGi Love. If the name sounds familiar, perhaps it's because you were among the thousands listening to her open for the Dave Matthews Band at the Columbia River Gorge, or playing for the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympic Closing Ceremonies.

Maybe her infectious sound? Those smoky vocals and revealing songwriting loaded with energy, vulnerable passion and delicate poise burn a memory. Whether armed with an electric guitar or her worn acoustic, Love leaves an indelible imprint vocally, while juggling blues and rock with country and folk. Close on the heels of her hero, the great Bonnie Raitt, Love's influences include Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Joni Mitchell, Shawn Colvin, and Neil Young.

Like Willie Nelson, Gram Parsons and Townes Van Zandt, she earned her honky-tonk chops in Texas. At the age of seven, Love began performing and playing guitar. By 12, she was filling venues with names such as Johnny High's Country Music Review in Ft. Worth, and the Grapevine and Stevenville Opry Houses in Texas.

While at Southern Utah University, she founded the Gigi Love Band and played regionally throughout the west. After hearing her play one night, a rep from Yellow Moon Records backed her for her first album, Scorpio Rising (1997), which sold more than 5,000 copies regionally, before she had national distribution through the Orchard. Her second album Coyote Bones (2000) is a beautiful example of her rousing acoustic performance style. Love's third album, Turning to Gold was released in January 2005. Her newest recording Cosmic Tales of the West features her band The Hearts of Gold. Due for release May 18th 2008. After her Olympic performance a promotion company for Mountain Dew added Love to their college compilation CD-the Six Pack. This promotion is sent out to over 300 college radio stations. For the past two years she has been touring with her sponsorship from Mountain Dew. Love is now living in Durango, Colorado and touring on the Mountain Dew College Circuit tour, while gearing up for the 2008 festival season with a 4 piece band.

John Clarke Jr.
Rolling Stone and New York Times Journalist