Gillian got started with songwriting when she was seven years old, writing gut-wrenching songs of love and loss :) a la "Oh my darling Clementine" on a toy guitar.
In the following years, she wrote an operetta, for which she was featured in an article in the Toronto Star. In her teen years she sang with the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus and later with the Oberlin College Choir. At Oberlin College she performed her own songs at the Cat in the Cream Coffeehouse. Also at Oberlin, she started to learn Indian classical singing, which has coloured her style ever since.
In the late 1990s, Gillian performed her material in venues around Toronto, including Free Times Cafe, the Cameron House, and the Tranzac Club. She put out her first CD in 1999, called "It's High Time", partly a nod to her father's 1960s pioneering research in the use of psychedelic drugs for therapeutic purposes.
Living in China in the early 2000s inspired her to learn Chinese folksinging, an endeavor that continues to this day. Since this time her performances have been sprinkled with Chinese folksongs and she has even written songs of her own in Mandarin Chinese.
Her next album, "The Big Game", recorded by Roman Riccio, came out in 2006, the title alluding to the game of politics. After a long recording hiatus, "Small Packages" was released in 2018. "Small Packages", recorded by Myke Mazzei, features stellar guest performances by Toronto artists such as Tom Hamilton, Chris Gartner and Ed Hanley.
Gillian's latest album, "Random Acts", was recorded by Douglas September and released in 2023. With contributions from artists like pianist Ed Michael Roth, cellist Charmain Louis, and stand-out guitarist Bob Cohen, it was a labour of love co-produced by Douglas, Bob, and Gillian.