About the Artist
It had to be fate. Vicki and Mike lived within miles of each other for years in Guilderland, a suburban community in upstate New York. Then suddenly their paths crossed again and again. First, they became friends. Then they found out that when they sing together, magic happens. Vicki Gayle was born in Jacksonville, FL, and first played in front of an audience at age seven. For many years, she performed country, folk and soft rock music around the New York Capital Region. Her philosophy about music is simple: it has to be good, and it has to be fun, and that comes across clearly in 2Late’s performances. Mike Short grew up in Madison, WI. His mother started training him on the piano very early with formal lessons starting in fourth grade. He picked up the guitar in seventh grade and never put it down. His family gets together whenever it can to play bluegrass, folk and country gospel tunes. His experience in the family band has paid off in 2Late, as Vicki’s lead singing is the perfect foil for his harmonizing. Mike is an accomplished songwriter, specializing in Christian Contemporary and modern acoustic folk music. 2Late features six of his songs on its new album, Comments from the Kitchen, released on February 18, 2006. Veterans of several upstate New York venues, 2Late plays acoustic music ranging from country to angst-filled folk, with just about every emotion in between. Vicki is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist, and Mike is the lead guitarist and rhythm singer. Together, they far exceed the sum of the parts, with hot licks and cool harmonies to please any audience. 2Late is a family affair. Vicki’s daughter, Emily, joins us on stage from time to time – when we can get her nose out of the Game Boy (“Hey, want to sing?” usually turns the trick.) Vicki’s husband Rik and Mike’s wife Monica load the van, set up and tear down gear, run our sound board, and attend almost every concert. Without our families, we would just be a couple of singers It is the family tie that binds 2Late together on so many levels. Since they announced the title of our first album, they’ve been asked many times about the origin of “Comments from the Kitchen.” Their answer: “Lacking a big budget for rehearsal space, we rehearse weekly in Mike’s living room while his wife, Monica, works on the computer in the kitchen. Every few minutes or so, we hear a disembodied voice from the direction of the kitchen saying ‘That’s nice’ or more often, ‘That still needs work.’ Thus, we perfect our music monitored by our beloved Kitchen Commentator. She lets us know when we have achieved that ‘2Late moment’ of great harmony and blended guitar, or sends us back to practice a little more.”
Product Description
Since we announced the title of this, our first album, we’ve been asked many times about the origin of “Comments from the Kitchen”. It’s like this: Lacking a big budget for rehearsal space, we rehearse weekly in Mike’s living room while his wife, Monica, works on the computer in the kitchen. Every few minutes or so, we hear a disembodied voice from the direction of the kitchen saying “That’s nice” or, more often, “That still needs work”. Thus, we perfect our music monitored by our beloved Kitchen Commentator. She lets us know when we have achieved that “2Late moment” of great harmony and blended guitar or sends us back to practice a little more. 2Late is a family affair. Vicki’s daughter Emily joins us on stage from time to time, when we can get her nose out of the Game Boy (“Hey, want to sing?” usually is enough.). Vicki’s husband Rik and our Kitchen Commentator Monica load the van, set up and tear down gear, run our sound board, and attend almost every concert. Without our families, we would just be a couple of singers. It is the family tie that binds 2Late together on so many levels. And we dedicate our first album to them. We hope you enjoy it.
