Amador Pickers: From Fiddletown To Carnegie Hall

This is part of a monthly series profiling some of the many fine musicians in Amador County. It will focus on acoustic folk style players who have spent a life time pursuing their passion for making music for the shear joy of it. For as  the old adage goes: Music self played is Happiness self made!

Gerry Brennan loves to sing. Gerry Brennan loves to play piano. Gerry Brennan loves to make music!

Gerry grew up in a large Irish family in Vallejo. After eight years of Catholic grammar school she attended a culturally diverse high school where she was exposed to soul music. Already a big fan of the harmony vocals of The Beach Boys she was blown away by the powerful voices of artists like Aretha Franklin and James Brown. 

Her Mom was an accomplished pianist in her younger days but played very little while raising five kids. But there was a piano in the house and Gerry had two years of lessons in classical technique. While still in high school she played for the new ‘Folk Mass’ at her parish church.

Gerry’s first experience performing on a stage was with The Minnesingers. This was a group of singers, dancers and a stage band sponsored by the Greater Vallejo Recreation Department. Gerry sang with them for five years.

In 1973 Gerry began a forty year career as an RN. She divided her time between her nursing duties and her passion for music. For many years she worked out of a registry so she could be free to play various gigs, some of which took her out of state. She was now living in Sacramento and had connected with many singers and musicians and found many venues that hosted live music.

Her first working band was RSVP. The group sang in five part harmony and covered a lot of California rock like The Beach Boys and The Eagles. They played as far afield as Texas and were together for ten years. A latter replacement member was the son of recording artist Rusty Draper.

Gerry spent time in several other groups including the vocal trio Shanandoah and the country rock band Steel Wheels. But in 1999 she put together her own acapella group B Natural. She wrote all the arrangements and kept it local playing pizza parlors and private parties. They were together twelve years and produced a cd, 100% Pure Voice. They even sang the National Anthem at a River Cats game.

Gerry had always worked with tapes for her arranging but in the late ‘80’s she decided it was time to learn about computer programs in order to stay current. She enrolled in a class at Sacramento City College called Modern Recording Techniques. The class covered analog to digital recording using MIDI (musical instrument digital interface).

While waiting for class to start someone bumped in to her. She looked up and saw he was blind. They became class partners and then musical partners. Gerry and James Malone performed at Sacramento jazz clubs and festivals as Litehouse Jazz Groove. They recorded a cd, Silent Reunion, of all originals. The ethereal vocals are mixed with many layers of instrumentation that is all computer generated.

In 2004 Gerry and her biggest fan, husband Soley, moved to Fiddletown. A place ‘below the snow and above the fog’ as she puts it. She commuted to Sacramento for both work and music until retirement in 2013.

Once retired she started to explore the local music scene and was delighted to discover the down home family vibe of Amador City’s Ukeamaniacs and All Stars. She took up the ukulele and sat in with the All Stars on melodica. She also joined Mountain Melody, an all women’s vocal group in Calaveras County.

To this day she is not sure how this came about but in 2019 the director of Mountain Melody was invited to participate in a performance at Carnegie Hall! Groups from as far as Australia made up a two hundred voice chorus accompanied by a one hundred piece orchestra. The program was called Magnificat and the hall was filled to capacity. Mountain Melody was sent their parts to practice beforehand. They had two full days of rehearsal in New York which even included the logistics of two hundred singers smoothly entering the stage.

They say the way to get to Carnegie Hall is practice, but since the show fell on St. Patrick’s Day, Gerry thinks there was a bit of Irish luck involved.

After Carnegie Hall Gerry stayed as busy as ever. She joined Dave Stark’s band Beau Rumpus, playing swamp blues in many local clubs. While performing at Dandelion Days Gerry was approached by Slade Rivers to add back-up vocals to his current cd. I remember seeing her join Slade on stage at Provisions one Sunday afternoon.

The resume continues with five years of acoustic country with Justin Howard as JAG. She also played festivals and clubs in Ted Sofer’s band Teal Wheels, which also included old pro Joe Bellamy. She is currently most active with a new blues rock band The Room Shakers and the four piece harmony Acapella Bellas.

This article could just keep going with all of Gerry’s years in music. She has written over one hundred songs and was arranger for hire for several other groups. Then there was the time she opened for jazz legend Mose Allison....

But before closing I want to acknowledge ‘Amador’s Number One Roadie’. No one has been more loyal and supportive all these years and miles and gigs than husband Soley. Where Gerry goes, Soley goes. Always quick to do the grunt work of schlepping the keyboard, amps and equipment. Somehow this has branched out to Soley helping everyone with their gear.

Friendly, funny and gracious, it’s always a pleasure to have a beer with Soley at the latest music event. When he gives you a nudge and says, ‘she wrote this one’ he couldn’t be prouder.

Gerry Brennan - singer, pianist, arranger, writer - Entertainer! Through a combination of dedication, perseverance, and natural talent she has had a rich musical life that will continue for many years to come.

Editor’s note: Robert Kerwin is a retired San Francisco city gardener. Suggestions and feedback are always welcome and appreciated: robertkerwin0590@comcast.net.