Artist Feature: Ash Jangda
I was lucky enough to see Guitarist Ash Jangda playing with Josiah Bell in Los Angeles a while ago. Seeing Ash play is a treat
Search blog
A love for all-things-pedal effects can often be a powerful force of attraction between guitarists. All those conversations about sounds and gear can provide the perfect creative springboard for an inspired and long-lasting musical partnership. Such is the case for Philadelphia’s Baroness, a band known for its crunchy hard guitar sound and melodic grooves. The pedal aficionados in this case are the band’s founder and front man, John Baizley and now-Baroness guitarist extraordinaire, Gina Gleason.
Baroness “Tourniquet” from Gold & Grey
Gleason met Baizley in 2016, when she was living in Las Vegas and playing guitar for Cirque du Soleil’s “Michael Jackson: One.” The fateful crossing of paths came about due to what Gleason has referred to in interviews as the “tone-seeking journey” she was on at the time.
A Philadelphia-native herself, Gleason’s quest led her to discovering and buying pedals through a Philly music shop. Unbeknownst to her at the time, the seller was none other than Baroness guitarist, John Baizley. The two guitarists ended up getting in touch with each other after the exchange and a new musical kinship was born.
Gina Gleason as “The Muse” in Cirque du Soleil’s “Michael Jackson: One” (Gina’s interview at :59)
It wasn’t until the departure of then-Baroness guitarist Peter Adams in 2017 that Baizley invited Gleason to join the band. By then the two had jammed together multiple times and realized they shared musical influences. Gleason accepted and the group dove head first into the creation of what eventually become the band’s latest release Gold & Grey.
Baroness Rehearsal 2017
Gleason’s eclectic mix of performance experience and musical influences made for the perfect fit in a band where harder-edged music is often paired with acoustics stylings and vocal harmony. Gleason’s background includes time spent in the all-female tribute bands Misstallica and Queen Diamond as well as also playing live alongside Jon Anderson of Yes, Santana, and even a few dates accompanying Jello Biafra as a part of his spoken-word tour.
Baroness “Front Toward Enemy”
And what exactly does this purveyor of all-things-pedal-effects have in her current signal chain? Why TimeLine and Mobius, of course. Learn all about it and more in the most recent Baroness Rig Rundown and interviews below:
Gina’s pedal board:
Baroness Rig Rundown
Gina and John talk shop on That Pedal Show
Baroness hits the road next month for a series of concert and festival dates throughout 2020. For dates and ticket info check out the Baroness website.
You can also find Gina on Instagram .
Enjoy this article?
Subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to hear about new Strymon products, artist features, and behind the scenes content!
October
October Crifasi is musician and writer based in Los Angeles where she lives with two cats, five guitars, and a pet dragon named Scorch. She has written for Acoustic Guitar and Classical Guitar magazines and also runs a guitar program for girls in Los Angeles called Girls Guitar School. When not making or writing about music, October leads a parallel life as a comic book writer and overall nerd.
Related Articles
Artist Feature: Siegfried Meier
German-born producer, engineer, and musician Siegfried Meier has had a very busy year and a half. In addition to being the owner and purveyor of
Pedalboard Feature: Linda Taylor
You can never laugh enough – at least that’s how we feel over at Strymon headquarters. So it was great when Linda Taylor reached out