Gwendolyn Sanford is an American singer-songwriter and composer. She is best known for her performances with Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang and for her contributions to the scores for '' Weeds'', '' Orange Is the New Black,'' and other films and plays.

Biography

Sanford was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

and raised in

Sierra Madre Sierra Madre (Spanish, 'mother mountain range') may refer to: Places and mountains Mexico *Sierra Madre Occidental, a mountain range in northwestern Mexico and southern Arizona *Sierra Madre Oriental, a mountain range in northeastern Mexico *S ...

, California. Sanford studied acting at the Los Angeles County School High School for the Arts. While in school, she learned to play guitar and at age 27, formed Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang. The group was first noticed at a 2003 street fair in

Los Feliz LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

. In addition to her solo works,Sanford, and her husband Brandon Jay, recorded four albums of children's music as Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang.

Film, TV, and stage

Sanford, Brandon Jay and Scott Doherty compose music for Netflix's original series '' Orange Is the New Black''. Prior, Gwendolyn and Brandon Jay composed the score for '' Weeds''. At least two different versions of Gwendolyn's song "Freedom of the Heart (Ooodily, Ooodily)" are prominently featured in Mike White's 2000 film '' Chuck & Buck''. She and Jay composed music for the play, ''Gruesome Playground Injuries''. Sanford wrote the music and lyrics for '' Romy and Michele's High School Reunion'' the musical, which first premiered June 15, 2017, at The 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle, WA.

Awards

In 2015, 2016 and 2017, she received an award BMI for her work on the Netflix show '' Orange Is The New Black''. In 2007, she received an award BMI for her work on the TV show '' Weeds''. In 2003, Sanford was recognized at '' LA Weekly'' Music Awards as the Best New Genre/Uncategorizable Artist. Also in 2003, Gwendolyn won KFPK radio's ''The Music Never Stops'' No. 1 Album of the Year" award for ''Dew'' and

Amoeba Music Amoeba Music is an American independent music store chain with locations in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1990 in Berkeley, California, and remains in operation, having survived the decli ...

named Sanford as their "Homegrown Artist Pick".

Discography

Solo

To date, Gwendolyn has recorded four solo albums *''Ultrasounds'' (2000) *''Dew'' (2003) *''Lower Mill Road'' (2007) *''Bright Light'' (2011)

Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang

Gwendolyn has released four children's albums as "Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang": *''Gwendolyn and the Good Time Gang'' (2003) *''Tis The Season To Be Rockin'' (2004) *''Get Up And Dance!'' (2007) *''Clap Your Hands'' (2010) And a live concert DVD *''Live in Grandma's Living Room!'' (2005) The "Good Time Gang" performs for children's events, mainly in California.

Affiliates

Musicians in Gwendolyn's live band include: *Douglas Lee (

glass harmonica The glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, glass harmonium, bowl organ, hydrocrystalophone, or simply the armonica or harmonica (derived from , ''harmonia'', the Greek word for harmony), is a type of musical instrument that uses a ...

) *Brandon Jay (drums, found percussion) *Robert Petersen (

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

) *Scott Doherty (piano, electric guitar, banjo) *Roger Park (

pedal steel The pedal steel guitar is a console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all steel guitars, it can ...

) Musicians Gwendolyn has worked with include: *

Smokey Hormel Smokey Hormel (born circa 1959)Cohen (2017) quotes Hormel as saying he was "4 or 5 ears old when "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles was "a big hit on the radio"; the song was released in America in December 1963. is an American guitarist ...

Ralph Carney Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

* Joey Waronker * Don Fleming * Ben Vaughn *

John McCusker John McCusker (born 15 May 1973) is a Scottish folk musician, record producer, and composer. An accomplished fiddle player, he had a long association as a member of the Battlefield Band beginning in the 1990s and was later a band member and p ...

*Ethan Allen *

Tony Gilkyson Tony Gilkyson (born August 6, 1952) is a Los Angeles-based musician. He is the son of Jane Gilkyson and songwriter/folk musician Terry Gilkyson, as well as the brother of singer-songwriter Eliza Gilkyson. Career Gilkyson is a former member of ...

References

External links

Gwendolyn's Official Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanford, Gwendolyn Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American television actresses American women singer-songwriters People from Sierra Madre, California Musicians from Philadelphia American women composers Singer-songwriters from Pennsylvania 21st-century American women Singer-songwriters from California