About Gayle Wilson

I've lived in Ashland, Oregon, since 1980. I live a wonderful life in this Southern Oregon town and get to share a home with my husband, George Rubaloff, and our doggie-daughter, Casey. My grown daughter, Kimberly, lives in Kailua, Hawaii, and my husband's grown children live here in Ashland and in Bend, Oregon.

I was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. When I was a child, my family escaped the cold Canadian winters by moving to Southern California and for years we had homes in both places. In 1974, I moved my own family to Portland, Oregon, where I studied journalism & broadcast communications at Portland Community College. I put myself through school with part-time jobs in retail and as a secretary.

In 1980, I again moved my family to Ashland to work as a reporter for KOBI-TV in the nearby city of Medford. Within a few months, I was promoted to the position of News Anchor and within a year, I was producing and anchoring both the 5 o'clock and the 11 o'clock news. I held this position for four years.

In 1985, I moved to San Francisco to work as a news reporter for KGO-TV. It was a great job in a beautiful city, however, my heart was in the mountains and valleys of Southern Oregon. I moved back to Ashland and started my own video production business, focusing on corporate videos. At that time, I also became a spokesperson for Roe Motors GM, an automobile dealership in Grants Pass, Oregon. For the next 23 years, I wrote, directed and produced about 335 commercials that all said the same thing in a different way; "Buy this car!"

As far as my musical career goes, I must've come into this world clutching some type of musical instrument. You see, my mother came from a musical family. She and her brothers and sisters had a family band that played country-western music at legion halls and barn dances all around the Canadian prairie provinces. As they got older, their music became more jazz-oriented and the venues became more sophisticated. My mother was a working musician for 3 decades spanning the '30's, '40's and '50's. She played a variety of instruments (piano, fiddle, bass) and that's how she raised me; interested in a wide variety of instruments and of course, always singing.

I began playing music professionally in 1990. That was with a guitar and a tip jar at a local coffeehouse here in Ashland. Nowadays, I have several bands of different sizes and musical persuasions. We've played at many Southern Oregon venues and while we focus on jazz, rock and blues, we're well-known for being able to lay down just about any kind of groove and play a wide variety of music in most of the popular styles.

From jazz festivals to weddings to concerts to corporate dinner dances, my combos are top-notch. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at gayle@gaylewilson.com. I'd be most happy to connect with you!