Gina Sweet

Well, I'm the youngest of 12 siblings. Born in Oshawa, Ontario (Canada), I spent my formative years in rural Nine Mile Creek, Prince Edward Island. I began singing by the time I was six, and by 11 my mother taught me how to play the fiddle. Up to this point I had been completely immersed in Country & Western music, with a huge sprinkling of Old Tyme & Celtic fiddling.

I began song writing early in my teens, and pretty much all of the music I was writing had heavy C&W overtones. Though at the time I was listening to alot of rock, metal, dance, you name it, my roots were still very country. By the time I turned 20, my family had relocated back to my hometown of Oshawa, where I began to perform publicly. In the spring of that year, I taught myself how to play guitar. My influences were stretching farther as I got older, and I surprised myself by finding that I was getting into very extreme styles: I equally loved easy listening such as Michael Buble, as well as System of a Down and Tool. The music I write generally fits the C&W scheme, but there are definitely alot of other factors at play, and I think that can be heard. One of my fans has told me that he feels my song “Star” could easily be made into a pop song if the instrumentation were different.

When I perform live, I draw from a broad range of artists, in addition to my own original material. I cover the Dixie Chicks, the Judds, Patty Loveless and Gretchen Wilson, as well as classics such as Patsy Cline and Kitty Wells. I love the deep, intense sound of some of the old school country, fused with more modern lyrics. I feel honored to be able to play for people and am thrilled to see others enjoy my music. It’s a very, very rewarding feeling, and as long as there is someone to listen, I will play for them. How wonderfully simple is that!