Buckle up listeners, we’ve got a very special guest in today and it’s none other than Gail Ann Dorsey, legendary session musician/singer/songwriter and bassist who accompanied David Bowie on tour and in the studio between 1995 and 2013. In that time, she became a core of the Bowie band, loved by David, bandmates and fans alike for her innate musicality, soaring vocals and cool, calm and stylish presence on stage. 

Gail’s story stretches out way before Bowie, and has thrived afterwards too. In this episode, the first of two, we talk about Gail’s solo career, growing up in a big family in 1970s West Philadelphia, digging the city’s sizzling soul and R&B scene, as well as immersing herself in the best of the era’s music, from solo singer songwriters to the thunderous sounds of Cream, Queen and Slade – and that British guy, who had come to Philadelphia in 1975 to record an album that blew her mind…

Follow Gail’s current activities on her Facebook and Instagram and check out her solo discography and concert dates on Spotify here

Many thanks to Leah Kardos for the original music used in this podcast! 

Image courtesy Mark Adams