Woodmoor resident
Sandy Reay just released her first album,
“I Wanted to Fly.” The album,
a blend of Americana that features numerous
local artists is available through Colorado
Sandstorm Music. Photo by Ryan Boldrey |
She
wanted to fly
By Ryan Boldrey
Published: 03.07.10
in The Tri-Lakes Tribune
Woodmoor resident Sandy
Reay has been playing music since she was
“old enough to lift a lid on a piano and
pick out a tune by ear.”
In other words, for her, it’s been 55
years since she fell in love, at first touch
and listen, with the sounds of music.
Since that time, Reay has been in countless
bands as a supporting musician, playing bass,
guitar, piano and harmonizing with her vocals.
But it wasn’t until two years ago at a
Peak Potentials Life Directions seminar in Los
Angeles, where she decided to turn her lifelong
passion into a dream of becoming a recording
artist.
Not even a year-and-half later Reay made that
dream a reality, putting the final touches on
her debut album, “I
Wanted to Fly,” a blend of Americana
folk, country and blues that features numerous
Colorado artists as supporting musicians, performing
under the moniker of Sandy Reay and Friends.
Drawing from musical influences ranging from
Peter, Paul and Mary to Joan Baez to Simon and
Garfunkel and Jefferson Airplane, Reay has penned
or co-written14 original tracks for her debut
release, and has her second album already in
the works.
Aside from not having a full-time backing band,
part of the reason Reay brought in 16 other
musicians into the studio with her was her desire
for a great final product.
“I know a lot of people that can do what
I can do better, so when I went into the studio
that was my approach,” she said. “I
can find someone who can play the guitar better
than I can and I can [sometimes] find someone
who can sing my song better.”
Reay takes the leads on vocals on five of the
tracks, while on all of the co-written songs
— even though she is responsible for most
of the lyrics — she allows her co-writer
to sing, lending to the album a nice variety
and vocal blend.
“I’ve been lucky enough to find
the most phenomenal co-writers and they are
all dear friends,” she added. “I
said let’s make a cd and have a party.”
And that’s exactly what Reay did, recording
the album in Jim Ratts’ studio in Englewood
with a mix of musicians she had come to know
through her various affiliations with the Colorado
Renaissance Festival (where she was the bass
wench for six years), the Swallow Hill Music
Society and the Colorado Bluegrass Music Society.
She has already received radio play with two
songs on the album; “State
Line Cafe” and “Already
Gone,” and the song “Maybe
This Time” features mandolin play
from Peter
Schwimmer, who has won top honors at The
Telluride Bluegrass Festival for mandolin, banjo
and guitar playing.
Reay, who has done everything from race cars
to live on a horse ranch to breed and rescue
collies and work on an oil-drilling rig, has
found herself “bitten by the bug to write”
and is feverishly at work on new material. She
is also in the meantime, playing out every chance
she gets.
“Right now I’m going to a lot of
open mics and jams and playing guitar and singing
my songs,” said Reay, who can be heard
live at places such as Swallow Hill in Denver,
Sheabeen in Aurora and Kunjani in Parker and
possibly sometime soon at the Speed Trap in
Palmer Lake.
“About 16 years ago I started writing
songs seriously,” she said. “Songs
have always come to me and I had always let
them go. Friends started telling me I needed
to play my own songs and I finally listened
to them.”
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