On January 2017, one night Healer Trio founder Gail Swain could not sleep. Full of fear of what the American future would hold for a country that elected a person to the presidency who made his contempt for women, people of color, the poor and the environment more apparent every day. A man who was obviously willing to throw away any progress for equal rights, so bitterly fought for. A feeling of overwhelming sadness consumed her, but being the person she is, she touched bottom, and then began to rise. What made her rise was the idea, that maybe she could use her love of music to bring healing to others who felt like she did.
She had many years experience in working with heart-fully sung vocal music as a tool for social change, personal and communal health.
So, she turned to soprano friend Claire Paul, fellow harmony singer Karen Katz & Guitarist Steve Bare.
Healer Trio was created to heal, inspire and connect us to our higher selves and our love of humanity. Their medium is the human voice, and their three part harmonies resonate in the human heart. For the past two years they have collaborated and performed with songwriter/guitarist Rus Brutsché to develop a varied repertoire of over 100 songs.
Healer Trio leads sing-a-longs to engage the audience and adds instruments to the band for danceable energy. Over the years, they have enjoyed accompaniment from skilled musicians such as Marty Dolciamore on guitar, Jeff Arlt on drums, and Jerry Paul on bass.
Since January 2017 Healer Trio has sung for veterans, peace, environmental and social justice events, parties, at memorials, rallies and demonstrations, in festivals and in living rooms. They have sung songs for the Earth, songs for the trapped children, songs for all those struggling in these changing times. Their songs reflect life today with its doubts, fears, glories and loves. They are always sharing the message of hope, and displaying the passionate love for humanity that leads them first and foremost to sing “Standing Up For Love”.
Claire Paul
Claire Paul loves the community of singers, and always makes harmony singing a priority. She sang with Mount Madonna Choir for 18 years, then with the Full Spectrum Chorus, Pacific Voices and today the Amica Women’s choral collective. She is a song leader with the Santa Cruz Threshold Singers, training volunteers to sing at bedsides.
Read More
Gail Swain
Gail Swain is a person who has sung most of her life. She works as the Choir Director & Music Coordinator for the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Santa Cruz County, and is the Former Music Director at Unity Temple. Gail has a solo CD called “Full Spectrum” which includes a truly wide range of vocal music. She includes styles ranging from jazz to rock, a cappella to full bands, solo to full choirs.
Read More
Karen Katz
Karen grew up in L.A in a classical music family. As an adult she continued her classical roots, and has spent the past decade learning South African 4 part harmony songs and for the past 3 years has been part of the Healer Trio doing what she loves most, singing backup harmony and performing with the goal of creating a sense of hope, inspiration and community.
Read More