Meet Gabrielle Louise

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Gabrielle Louise. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Gabrielle below.

Gabrielle, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

My parents performed together professionally throughout most of my childhood, and the soundtrack to my upbringing was their rehearsals. One of my earliest memories of being magnetically pulled to music was around three. I wasn’t allowed in the practice room that day; likely I had been distracting and was sent away. I badly wanted to listen, however, so I remember laying with my ear pressed to the doorsill of the outbuilding where they were playing. The husky and warm voice of my mother singing “Dreams” drifted through the crack under the door like a secret. I remember that it was raining a soft warm rain on my face, but that I was totally unbothered in my enchantment.

Years later, a pre-adolescent, I sat in awe of her again. This time I was perched on a granite boulder beside a Colorado campfire where a group of her friends were jamming, sharp stars overhead and smoke spiraling up with the chorus of voices. She lead one number that night that stilled me completely. It was a folk ballad called “The House Carpenter,” and it rooted in me the desire to write songs as well as sing them. The story is of two doomed lovers who drown in the sea, delivered over the course of 11 anguishing verses which are so well written that they have traveled centuries and continents. A favorite version can be heard by Doc Watson, but like most folk songs, the story, lyrics, and melody are not a static thing. My mother’s version was very much her own. I later recorded it, when I was about 24.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m a songwriter and storyteller living in the mountains of Western Colorado. Half my time I’m touring and making records, enjoying the social whirlwind and adventure of the road, and the other half I’m gardening, watercolor painting, or writing songs on my front porch, a peaceful oasis beneath the boughs of an old cottonwood tree.

I try to bring my values into the songs I write – my love of nature being a principal one. Writers like Mary Oliver and Walt Whitman made early impressions on me, and their ethos percolates into my music. I also love history, comparative mythology, and philosophy, so you’ll find themes littered throughout my music that are influenced by my library as much as my record collection.

I’ve released a handful of albums over the years, but it’s been since the pandemic that I’ve put a formal collection out, so at the moment I’m doing pre-production work for two different records.

The first one is as a duo with my husband, Ryan Hamilton Dilts, who is a wonderful guitar player and luthier as well. The songs collected for that project are narrative in nature and fall into the folk, bluegrass and Americana traditions. We’ve co-written a handful of the numbers, as well as re-purposed some of my older songs that never found a home on previous records.

The second project is a solo record, and the works earmarked for that are slightly jazzier in nature, with more adventurous harmonic progressions.

I’m thrilled to be preparing these collections and can’t wait to have more information about them as I progress.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I think the ability to self-entertain was and is the most impactful for me in my creation process. Secondly, I’m really trying to maintain my tolerance for boredom in our overstimulated culture. This is where so many ideas come through! Out of the fog of my subconscious when I’m doing something quite and simple – like hanging laundry for example – will bloom an insight or epiphany I never would have heard had I entertained myself while doing it. A third would be focus and attention. Developing and maintaining a long attention span is so critical to being a musician, where hours of rehearsal is the norm, because you have to upkeep a physical skillset similar in some ways to an athlete’s.

I’m not sure I have much advice beyond that. Maybe I would caution those early in their journey not to set out on it if they don’t love it so fully that they wouldn’t sacrifice many other paths on it’s account. There isn’t too much time that remains in my day-to-day for other areas of interest, especially when you factor in the administrative work expected of a musician today. However, I’m ok with that, because music brings me so much joy and an unparalleled sense of purpose.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
I would say my number one challenge right now is overcoming self doubt about my relevancy as a female musician as I age. Sadly, the music industry seems to reward the young, most especially in women, while the truth is that the longer one does this, the better they get, and the wiser the content they put forth. I’m more skilled and refined than I was when I first set out. I try to remind myself of that in the face of an industry that encourages qualities like “hip and sexy” over just about anything else. I view my strengths as being much more related to my authenticity and curiosity, so I hope my songs find others who seek more thoughtfulness in the content they consume. The music industry is constantly shape-shifting, though, and while that makes it challenging from the business aspect of things, one upside is that there are cracks emerging in the structure where a larger range of voices can slip through.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Ashli Hara (Main photo) Art Heffron (All others)

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Productivity
Beating Burnout

Often the key to having massive impact is the ability to keep going when others

Leadership Development
Where does your generosity come from?

Over the years, we have consistently been blown away by the examples of generosity we’ve

Productivity
From Burnout to Balance: The Role of Self-Care

Burning out is one of the primary risks you face as you work towards your