She came to UAB from a nine-year tenure as Assistant Professor of Clarinet and Coordinator of Music Education at Mars Hill College in Mars Hill, North Carolina, where she was a member of the Asheville, Kingsport, and Hendersonville Symphonies. She was a member of the Missouri Chamber Orchestra in Columbia, Missouri, from 1993-1997. An avid chamber musician, Gainey is sought after as a clinician and performer throughout the United States and abroad, performing with the Amicitia Duo, the UAB Chamber Trio, and the Shepherd duo, with recordings available through Naxos, Ravello Records, and Potenza Music. Gainey has presented and performed at several ClarinetFests® in the US and abroad, the University of Oklahoma Clarinet Symposiums, and as a soloist with several orchestras and wind ensembles throughout the United States, Ireland, Spain, Sweden and Denmark, also performing as a member of the McCracken Woodwind Quintet from 1998-2001.

She served as clarinet specialist for the Denton Independent School District in Denton, Texas, from 1991-1993, and was a middle school band director in Pasco County, Florida, for five years. Gainey has written a book on the life and work of Kalmen Opperman, Kalmen Operman: A Legacy of Excellence (Passing on the Flame), published by Carl Fischer Music in early January 2018, and has compiled and edited a collection of clarinet solos, Solos for Clarinet, published by Carl Fischer in 2001 (as Denise Schmidt). She received the Bachelor of Music Education from Florida State University, the Master of Music in Clarinet Performance from The University of North Texas, and the Doctor of Musical Arts in Clarinet from The University of Kentucky. Gainey’s major teachers include Kalmen Opperman, James Gillespie, Frank Kowalsky, and Fred Ormand.