Branches of a Dream
Gil’s second album, released in September 2024, represents a transition away from the blues and towards rock, folk-rock and jazz-rock genres, with a more varied writing style. He sings and plays all the instruments on the 12 original songs, except for some tracks again featuring drummers Riaan Esterhuizen and Bill Maloney.
All the songs have been inspired by personal experience, and the uniqueness of the sound is enhanced by the use of open tunings on both acoustic and electric guitars.
Key tracks are:
"Walking on the Names of Heroes" – This song honours four ordinary men from the same street in Putney, London, who went to serve in World War 1 and never came home. In a touching gesture by local residents, their names have been inlaid in the pavement of Festing Road, which leads down to the River Thames, so that the sun will never set on their memory.
"Invisible" – Based on his own experiences growing up in Scotland, Gil draws attention to the struggle most of us face when trying to understand our behaviour later in life in the context of our upbringing. “Little boys should be seen and not heard” was standard, and there was no room for individual development – you had to be like everbody else, essentially invisible.
"Man on the River" – the subject is an eccentric man who chooses to live the life of a hermit in a shack on a derelict barge on the River Thames in Twickenham, London. In fact, he is a lawyer and highly intelligent. The town council, and some of the locals, have attempted to oust him from his abode, in a typical display of “nimbyism”, in which they have so far failed.
Videos on YouTube are available for these 3 tracks, filmed and produced by Mike Cross, Rogue Productions (Durban). Mixing and mastering was by Dave Langemann, Creative Native Productions, Cape Town.
Order a copy by writing to Gil at