Hal Gerard

REVIEW: Hal Gerard at The Abbey Coffeehouse January 2006: Hal Gerard, a 30-year veteran of the independent music scene, is capable of highly sophisticated rhythms, with more layers than you’d expect from one guy and a guitar. His voice is compelling, going for the deeper ranges that just don’t exactly kick, but lodge themselves somewhere in your gut, not exactly haunting but certainly attention-grabbing. He calls his sound progressive blues, and I can certainly see that; he plays his acoustic as if it were electric, and I can pick up some early Rush in his guitar work, as well as shifts and lower-range changes that bring to mind Jimmy Page in his more experimental moods. He cut his musical teeth at the height of the prog-rock era, and it certainly shows in the Pink Floyd-inspired instrumental interludes and vaguely Bowie-esque rhythms. Which is not to say that his form is entirely old school. He covered Sheryl Crow at one point and sounded quite natural, and more often than not his style reminded me of, no kidding, the bluesy “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”-style Warrant work. There’s a soft-rock element to it as well, and I mean all-out soft rock, Kenny Loggins and early Elton John stuff. Yeah, I’m making a lot of strange comparisons, but like I said, the guy’s work is complex. - Paul F. P. Pogue, NUVO staff writer, Indianapolis Indiana.
BIO:
Hal was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio and was introduced to music via the piano at the early age of 6. Hal started writing music in his teens as well as learning how to play guitar. Guitar soon became his primary instrument and into his college years, while studying for his Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, he began performing his original guitar based songs. While seeking a more technical degree, Hal began to realize that music was his first love and began to make pathways into the music business. Through various bands and different church oriented settings, Hal began to realize his abilities as a guitarist, singer, writer, producer, soundman and arranger. Hal has also taught guitar one-on-one for over 10 years. Besides teaching guitar, Hal has taught songwriting and arranging. Hal also plays bass, keyboard and percussion.
Hal has been involved with 4 CD projects: the first in the duo, Imago Dei, entitled Stand Up For The Children; the second for the Grace Church Worship Team in Toledo, Ohio, entitled Grace Notes; the third, his first solo project, entitled When I’m Around You and the fourth, Reina Collins' third release, Austin To Boston. Stand Up For The Children, produced in 1994 by Jeff Lams, was a project co-written, designed and performed with Naomi Collins-Beltz, the other half of the duo, Imago Dei. Subsequent to the production of Stand Up For The Children, Hal took the position of Music Director at Grace Church in Toledo, Ohio. At Grace Church, Hal was responsible for leading the worship team, the congregation, rehearsals, song selection, performance pieces and personnel development. Before leaving the position at Grace Church, the project, Grace Notes, was begun. Grace Notes, co-produced with Scott Derkin, contains 4 of Hal’s original tunes along with other standard contemporary worship pieces. Hal contributed to vocals and guitars on Grace Notes. Concurrently, Hal produced his own solo project, When I’m Around You, released March 2005. Produced by the talented Rob Stroup, Reina Collins third release, Austin To Boston, combines rock, folk and country with Hal on acoustic guitar and backing vocals.
Hal has won 3 Honorable Mentions from the Billboard Song Contest. Hal also has done work as soundman/designer for the Toledo Repertory Theater, the Lafayette Civic Theater and soundman for the local Indianapolis band, Playback. Hal has also acted in productions of Guys and Dolls, Chicago and Jeffrey. He is now residing in the Portland, Oregon area and is currently thoroughly enjoying playing guitar for Reina Collins (The Saloonatics), Alison Rice (The Wheel), Rob Barteletti and Tualatin United Methodist Church.

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