Jeffrey Gaines

Jeffrey Gaines could easily see himself living in the 1960s, hanging out and making music at someplace like Haight-Asbury in San Francisco. On the phone, he sounds mellow and laid back. He peppers his speech with “dude” and “vibe.” And he’s a singer-songwriter, for crying out loud. This is the ’90s. If you’re a guy, you gotta play alternative or swing or hip-hop, or you’re just not happening. Gaines doesn’t listen to that kind of talk. By the mid-’80s, he caught his first break. WTPA-FM (93.5) in Mechanicsburg was putting out a CD featuring local musicians. From that he went to Philadelphia, where he began to find his own voice. He started playing an acoustic guitar, and that changed his whole approach to music. He dropped the harsh, electric metal he had grown up with in favor of more personal songs. “Galore” is the first release under his new deal with Rykodisc. In the end, he didn’t have enough time for a double record. The finished album has 13 songs. A bonus CD includes his best-known song, a live version of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes.” His bandmates on the record include Reeves Gabrels, Gail Ann Dorsey and Zachary Alford. All three played in David Bowie’s most recent touring band. Former E-Street Band keyboardist David Sancious sat in, too. “We kept the vibe so relaxed,” he says. “Somewhere around song six, the record gets into this groove and just keeps going.”