REVIEW: Gil McKinney Releases “How Was I to Know”

Gil McKinney (you might know him from Supernatural and Once Upon A Time) has released his very first album today! The album consists of seven songs, one of which is “How Was I to Know” written by Gil. It was produced by Jason Manns. Gil launched the album on Kickstarter with a goal of $12,000 but ended up raising over $31,000!

You can listen to the album on Spotify and purchase it on ITunes, Amazon, CDBaby and basically anywhere that sells music.

Gil is currently on ITunes Top Albums at #2 in the Jazz category!

Tead below to hear our thoughts on each song, as well as what everyone else is saying about it!

1. Creep

Gil tackles this song from Radiohead, which has been covered many times. Although listeners are very familiar with it’s rock tones, Gil brings a refreshing new take on this cover. His voice is strong and soothing (which you’ll hear me say a lot in this review because it is) and a little erie on this song, which makes it perfect. We really liked how the arrangement was transformed to showcase his voice.

2. Make You Feel My Love

This song, originally written and performed by Bob Dylan, has also been covered quite a bit. However, we can’t help but say this is one of our favorites on the album because how well it fits Gil’s voice. This has to be our favorite rendition of the song, so much so that we could probably put it on repeat all day.

3. How Was I to Know

This is the title track which Jason Manns tweeted out earlier that this was the first song ever written by Gil. Gil’s lyrics are fantastic and really tell a story. The chorus showcases his range, and we’ll be raving about this song for days!

4. If I Only Had a Brain

We were so excited when we saw that Gil was covering a song from The Wizard of Oz and it’s just soooooo good. It’s candy-for-your-ears good. He once again transforms this classic to match his voice, in a sweet jazz arrangement.

5. 17

This is another great song with a great arrangement, written by Jason Manns and Nicholas Zork. This song is one of our favorite on the album. I really like the guitar solo in the middle of the song. The arrangements on all of these are stellar and there’s just something about the song that makes us keep listening to it over and over.

6. Haven’t Met You Yet

When listening to this album, Gil reminds you of Michael Buble and how fitting is it for him to cover one of his songs? Again, Gil’s voice fits this song like a glove and we love his cover of this!

7. Summertime

This song is a classic and is popular among Jazz music, and Gil does not disappoint with it. He gives a great take on this classic and his voice brings new life into it.

As you can see, we have nothing but rave reviews for this album. We can’t get enough of it – it’s been on repeat since it came out. I just keep saying how soothing his voice is, the tone is great and the choices of songs and arrangements are perfect. Everything he sings he seems to sing effortlessly. Gil’s writing is also great and we hope to hear more original songs from Gil soon! Hopefully this is only the first of many albums for Gil.

We asked our followers on Twitter what they thought of Gil’s album, and you can see a few of the responses below:

Make sure to check out Gil’s album, “How Was I to Know”, available now!