Vicky McGinley |
Instruments: Guitar, Keyboards, Voice. Hobbies:Spend time with my Melody and my dog, Volleyball, Badminton, SHOPPING! Heroes: Scott McGinley, Mel Gibson, Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson..Dr. Wayne Dyer. Freq. asked question: Are you guys married? Fav. Albums: Tragic Kingdom, Apartment # 635, Breakfest in America, Ask anybody, Whatever and ever men. Fav. Group: Maroon 5, No doubt, The beach boys, Beatles, Ben folds five, BoysII men, Swirl 360, DAG, Grasshopper from HK. Fav. Movies: Brave Heart, That thing you do.The green mile, Miss Congeniality Fav. Female artists:Liv Tyler, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson. Ellen DeGeneres,Sandra Bullock Fav. Male artists: Brian Wilson, Mel Gibson, Paul McCartney, Jack Black Fav. food: Taiwan Food and China town in philly and NY., California Pizza Kitchen,outback steakhouse Pet peeves? When the blanket on the bed is crooked, Inside -out laundry. If you have one wish, what would it be? If we could stop pointing finger at others and worrie about them selfs. |
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Vicky McGinley was born Yi-Ying Chen, in march 1978, in Taipei, Taiwan. As a child, she was so tall (by asian standards), that her family told she would definitely marry an American. In 5th grade, when she was required to take a basic English class in school, her teacher gave everyone in the class an english name. From then on everyone knew her as Vicky. Growing up, Vicky decided that someday she would be a singer. In Taiwan, however, there's not as many opportunities to sing as in America, so the best training she could think of, was to go to sing karaoke as often as she could. At age 16, after winning 1st place in a local modeling contest, she began a modeling carreer that also led to parts in television shows and in music videos. Her life's dream, to sing, still seemed unreachable, and she was growing tired of the lack of opportunities open to her in Taiwan. No one would hire someone with no experience, but there was nowhere to get experience! |
In December 1996, Vicky and her friends went out to the hottest club in Taipei called "Kiss La Bocha". There she saw a great band that was gaining popularity in the area called "New Religion" (led by Scott McGinley). Scott says the story goes like this:"We were playing at Kiss La Bocha, it's a packed night, we're ready to go on break, and this beautiful girl comes walking in. She just stood out in the crowd! She looked so great that my bass player joked "you'd be THE MAN if you could get a date with her!" So almost on a dare, I went and talked to her, and even though she barely spoke more than 10 phrases of English, we really hit it off immediately! We started dating a couple weeks later and have been together ever since" |
As Scott's band left to go on to the next country, he sent for Vicky to come stay with him where ever she could. Even as Scott returned to America to record, they were able to work out a way to be together. She made her 1st trip to America in 1997, and was immediately struck by how different things were. "The air is so fresh compared to Taipei and the sky so blue!" Vicky noticed. "The pointy roofs and all the space you have is amazing, too." With such a change from Taipei (a city the size of Philadelphia, but with many more people), where a simple trip to a restaurant means 2 hours of waiting in traffic, Vicky quickly got over her homesickness, and started to focus on her future together with Scott. Scott was really struck by how fast Vicky learned things and by her beautiful singing voice. |
After visiting a few times, Vicky came back in April of 1999 for "just another visit", but Scott's marriage proposal quickly changed that! "I always knew, from the time we met, that Scott and I were meant to be together" says Vicky. So the newly engaged couple set about making plans for their life together, while Scott started playing locally in his friend Pat McCabe's band THE INSIDERS. |
When Pat decided to take a break from playing the club scene, Scott recognized a chance for Vicky to do something she has always dreamed of-be a professional singer-but it would require a few "white lies". As the story goes: It was July and Pat decided by August he would leave THE INSIDERS. Scott relayed to his booking agent that he would like to do it with Vicky, but his agent disagreed, saying "she's very beautiful, and has a nice voice, but you really need a musician to take Pat's place." After trying to convince the agent a few times and always getting the same response about "needing a Musician", Scott lied and blurted out "well, Vicky does play (she did not at the time), I mean, she's not Eddie Van Halen, but she can play.... The agent was delighted, "Oh....well, that's different! If she plays I can definitely continue to book THE INSIDERS!" So that day Scott and Vicky went to the music store and bought a guitar and a keyboard for Vicky (that she had 8 weeks to learn how to play!), so she could become a musician and take over when Pat leaves. "I went through the songs and started with the easiest to learn and started teaching them to Vicky" Scott says, "keep in mind it usually takes a student 6 months to a year to start learning chords on the guitar......She would pick them right up on the guitar AND the keyboards!" While THE INSIDERS were out playing, Vicky was home practicing day and night! |
On labor day 2000, Scott and Vicky played their first date together as THE INSIDERS. Since then they have built up a loyal following together, gotten married, played at some of the top clubs and casinos in the area and released a critically acclaimed album of their own material. "The best part is that now I get to do what I've always dreamed of doing -singing - for a living....plus I get to do it with the person I most love being with!" -Vicky McGinley 2002 |
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In Loving Memory Of Bonnie Chi |
Vicky In Bankok, Thailand 1997 |
Vicky - New to America 1998 |
The Insiders 2000 |
