Gina Loes

Gina Loes grew up to the sound of radio and the piano meandering through the hallways of her home in Sottsdale, Arizona. For her twelfth birthday, Gina asked her parents for a guitar and a few lessons. She loved learning the words to popular songs so she could sing with her sisters in the car and in the kitchen and while they danced off the diving board in the summertime.

As she began experimenting with songwriting, Gina gave her first open mic performance at the local coffee and art house in downtown Phoenix, The Willow House, in 2005. She came to love this local haven for artists and musicians and would go there to listen or perform at every chance she could gather. In 2006, Gina decided she needed a venue that was closer to home and more readily available to the under age.  As there wasn’t one, Gina organized a new open mic at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at the Promenade in North Scottsdale that attracted talented local musicians and kick started the open mic community in the area.

In August of 2006, Gina moved to Vancouver to study music at the University of British Columbia, Focusing in ethnomusicology and composition, Gina studied under Dr. Steven Chatman and spent two years in the UBC’s Chinese Ensemble with Dr. Alan Thrasher studying zhongruan with works performed by the Vancouver Intercultural Chinese Orchestra.

In December of 2008, Gina released a collection of her own songs and recordings under the album name Ready or Not, and distributed her music at the local venues she’d play including The Wired Monk, The Gallery Lounge, Café Monmartre, and Granville Island.

Currently, Gina performs with The Ruffled Feathers, a Vancouver based band formed in January of 2009 with Charley Wu, Andrew Lee, Alex Leckie, and Brian Lerher. They released their debut EP in September of 2009 and are currently working on more material for a future release.