About Gayla

Iowa has a heritage steeped in the mysteries of nature. Less than two hundred years ago, it was unspoiled grassland, prairie and forest. Iowa native Gayla Drake absorbed the mystery of this land, and has spent a lifetime translating mystery into music. Her music evokes the lay of the land from the gentle rolling hills to the cliffs and crags of the many river valleys.

Two life-long obsessions intertwine in her artistry: she fell utterly, irrevocably in love with the guitar at the age of 3, and began playing at the age of 4; she learned to read at 2, to write at 3, began writing stories almost instantly, and was writing songs by the time she was 8. These two passions blend seamlessly into music that sometimes seems like it is breathed out through her pores rather than played on any instrument.

One of a handful of guitarists to master both fingerstyle and flatpicking guitar techniques in multiple genres and tunings, she is rarer still for her remarkable singing voice, prolific songwriting and compositional skills. Her larger-than-life, force-of-nature performance style combines with her wicked sense of humor to engage, enrapture and astound audiences.

Gayla is also highly in demand as a sideman, playing fiddle or guitar in several bands and duos, and fronts two remarkably different ensembles, the Gayla Drake Trio, and Aunt G and the Stone City Nephews, both featuring her original songs in unique and powerful arrangements.

Lessons

If you live in Iowa's I380 Corridor area and would like to learn fiddle, fingerstyle, DADGAD, mandolin, or work with a songwriting coach, contact Gayla through West Music at looking4lessons.com and enter Gayla Drake in the search field.

Bands and Ensembles

Aunt G and the Stone City Nephews

Comprised of Gayla and the young, high-energy, bluegrass-based Kodiak Flats, Aunt G and the Stone City Nephews allows Gayla to both return to her roots and reinvent herself completely. "They're fearless," Gayla says, "they'll try anything I throw at them, and they usually take to it like a duck to water. It's been pure magic."

The Gayla Drake Trio (GD3)

The GD3 performs all original folk-rock and blues at festivals, outdoor events and concerts. Douglas and Johnson are both inductees into the Iowa Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame, and are one of the hottest and most musical rhythm sections in the Midwest. U2 and P!nk keyboardist Terry Lawless states: "I have never worked with such an intuitive and solid rhythm section as with Dan Johnson and Eric Douglas. Chops, taste and musicality, playing with them or just listening to them is always a wonderful treat." They bring a wonderful rock drive to Gayla's music.

Drake and Johnson

Drake and Johnson cover a lot of musical ground, from the roots of rock'n'roll to swing, jazz, blues, and unique originals. Johnson is one of the Midwest's most in-demand bassists, and has performed over 6000 gigs in his career. A wonderfully different and remarkable combination!

Natalie Brown and Gayla Drake

Virtuosos Brown and Drake perform traditional American and Celtic folk and fiddle music, and original compositions that encompass folk, folk-rock, and their own unique folk-jazz-blues hybrid that both electrifies and melts an audiences heart simultaneously.

Drake 'n' Waite

Fast musical friends, Gayla Drake and John Waite perform a unique repertoire of tradition-based originals, old country-blues tunes, mountain fiddle tunes and old-time music. Des Moines native John Waite is a leader in the new generation of great Iowa guitarists, moving effortlessly between traditional fingerstyle and contemporary bluegrass flatpicking. Waite has found his own unique creative voice, and his songwriting is subtle, magical, strongly melodic.

BeJae Fleming and Gayla Drake

Drake claims Fleming as her favorite songwriter; Fleming calls Drake a pure genius. The respect, admiration, delight and deep friendship between these two remarkable musicians shines, to quote one of Fleming's own songs, "like rain on a blacktop road." Engaging heads, hearts and feet, Fleming and Drake weave dark and powerful magic through the roots of the Iowa sound.

Orenda

ORENDA: A word coined in the early 1900s from the Iroquois, defined as a mystical power that pervades all natural things, the spiritual force by which human accomplishment is attained or accounted for. Orenda is a bold and talented group of women musicians who melded their solo acts into a stellar, crowd-pleasing band who shared their first performance at the 20th annual Iowa Women's Music Festival. Exhibiting diverse talents and multiple styles of music, Orenda performs their songs with tight vocals and immense skill on varied instruments, filled with the passion and magical, mystical energy of their namesake.

Kodiak Flats

Kodiak Flats is a wild, wicked, fast, hot, unflaggingly high-energy good time. Performing stellar originals by both Niederhauser and Waite, along with some outstandingly creative covers of traditional bluegrass, blues and pop tunes, the boys give 150% every minute they're on, leaving audiences electrified.