Chicago musician Gina Marie DeGregorio to perform this month at Green Mill, Robert's Westside

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

Chicago musician Gina Marie DeGregorio is the type of musician that doesn't want to be confined to one musical genre.

She fronts bands that range from jazz to Americana music to rock.

Gina Marie will perform with the Alan Gresik Swing Orchestra at 8 p.m. Jan. 22 at the Green Mill, 4802 N. Broadway Ave., Chicago. There is a $10 cover charge.

Her Americana band Gina Marie & The Golden Bucks will perform at 8 p.m. Jan. 28 at Robert's Westside, 7321 Madison St., Forest Park.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $10 to $15, available at robertswestside.com.

I had the chance to talk to Gina about her music.

Q – I understand that you had been performing the last few months at The Lincoln Park Supper Club on the Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas. How was that experience?

The experience was truly special for me because I was able to represent Chicago jazz in a Chicago-themed room that celebrates real Chicago history! 

 

The menu and the music of the supper club was designed as a nod to classic Chicago nightlife. Representing my hometown scene abroad brought meaning to the placement, especially when talking to guests about the real reasoning behind menu, decor, and music choices that they may not have heard otherwise. 

 

 

Bringing real, classic Chicago music back to vintage Chicago spaces has always been a passion at home, and I was able to live that passion every night for three months. 

 

Q – I understand that both your father and mother were musicians. Your dad was a band leader and your mom played piano. In fact, the name of your group, the Golden Bucks, was the name of your dad’s band, correct? Do you think it was inevitable that you became a musician?

 

You started out playing piano and then switched to percussion when you were about 10 years old. Are you happy with the decision you made?

 

Yes, I stole the band name from my father’s band! I of course asked for permission first! It was impossible to avoid musical growth in our house with both parents playing from the time we were very young. 

 

I actually continued both piano and percussion – I joined band at the age of 10 and fell into that world through college. I became very invested in the marching band world!

 

I still considered myself a pianist until college, where I officially switched my focus to prepare to be a band director. I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I made other choices, but these experiences molded the musician I am today, and I think I needed that journey to arrive where I am. 

 

Q – Speaking of the Golden Bucks, I see the band will perform at the Buckles 'n Spurs Country Festival in Texas in June, and that it will be your first country music festival. Are you looking forward to the opportunity?

 

We are looking forward to it! We have played some folk and "newgrass" festivals, but this will be our first proper country fest!

 

We are very excited, and are looking forward to making a new group of friends and seeing the rest of the lineup! 

 

Q – And the band’s original song “Snake Around” – from the album “Pastures of Plenty” – was released on all digital platforms on Nov. 23. As I understand, the album in part is a homage to Woody Guthrie. Would you consider him an influence?

 

 

It would be difficult to find a musician who ISN’T influenced by Guthrie directly or indirectly. He elevated the experience of working America, something our album seeks to emulate.

 

The title track is his homage to the grit and dignity of America’s migrant workers: as relevant today as it was when it was written. In keeping with that tradition, "Snake Around" is about Chicago in all her industrial glory.

 

The lyrics compare steely Chicago with her East and West Coast counterparts, punching up on behalf of the Midwest, often overlooked as “flyover country.” 

 

Q – You are involved in so many genres of music, including jazz, country and rock. Do you have a favorite genre?

 

I am a person for whom all the flowers are beautiful! I enjoy a steady diet of sounds – including the occasional piece of candy. 

 

I can’t imagine cutting any of it out of my life! I also believe nothing exists in a vacuum.

 

All of the musical genres that I have participated in have co-existed and co-developed. The study of one elevates understanding of the other.

 

I see the beauty in jazz after spending time in folk, and I feel the companionship of bluegrass after existing in jazz for a while. If you listen closely to modern music, you can hear all these things embedded within. 

 

I love the connectivity of music, the communal nature of its development, and the humanity that led to such diversity. 

 

Q – Along with being a musician, you are also a music instructor. What are some of the things that you hope your students will learn?

 

Some of the most important lessons are interpersonal. Music is a conversation shared with your peers on stage as well as with the audience. 

 

If no one wants to talk to you, the conversation is over. Ideas people write off as “things teachers always say” about character, reliability and respect are ideas we rely on heavily while entering a new musical community and forging new bonds. 

 

We have all had to perform through interpersonal conflicts, but we communicate best with those we trust – so be trustworthy.