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Me&thee
favorite John Gorka is an honored icon of folk tradition. Energetic acoustic
music that is not a trend, not a fad, but an expression of everyday life,
is his trademark. John’s rich baritone voice and unique songcraft weave
a magical spell that can only be described as ‘Gorka.’ Anne Heaton opens
the show. Anne was named one of 2009’s Ten Breakout Bands and has been
nominated for a 2009 Boston Music Award for Folk Act of the Year.
John
Gorka has been a staple on the coffeehouse scene for quite a while. His
gentle self-deprecating humor and wise and thoughtful lyrics have endeared
him to acoustic music fans far and wide. John has a website chock full
of all kinds of interesting tid-bits. This trailer for John’s DVD “The
Gypsy Life” gives a glimpse into John — the musician, the performer, the
storyteller.
Your
name is almost synonymous with Godfrey Daniels — the legendary listening
room and coffeehouse in downtown Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Do you remember
the first time you walked in there and tell us about your history with
the place.
My
friend Doug Anderson from The Razzy Dazzy Spasm Band took me there
on a weekday in late 1976. He was dropping off a record for his
friend George Gritzbach to get him a booking there. People were
sitting around the front room passing around a guitar. It came to
me and I played a song. I thought it was what Greenwich Village
must have been like in the early 60’s. It was a little slice of
Bohemia right there on the Southside of Bethlehem, PA.
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I
suspect your transition to the New York City folk scene of the 1980s was
a pretty big one for you. Was getting involved with that whole Fast Folk
crowd at Jack Hardy’s a real turning point in your career?
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Jack
was the first person I opened for at Godfrey Daniels in June, 1979
— my friend Russ Rentler and I were billed as the “Razzy Dazzy Brothers”.
Jack H. was the first person I ever met who wrote songs on a schedule.
At the time he was finishing an average of a song per week. He did
90 minutes of original music, most of which he had written in the
previous 18 months. I was amazed anyone could come up with that
much original material in that short a time. His songs, his approach
and his personality were a great inspiration to me. I was sort of
the house opening act for singer-songwriters coming through Godfrey
Daniels in the early ’80s and a lot of the people I opened shows
for opened doors for me in other parts of the country. One of the
next times I opened for Jack he said when I come to NYC next I should
do something for the Fast Folk Musical Magazine. Jack encouraged
me when I needed that encouragement most. So, yes it was a turning
point.
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I
remember buying your first album (yes, the vinyl), “I Know” after seeing
you open for Nanci Griffith at Club Passim. I still remember being knocked
out by “Heart on Demand” and “Love is Our Cross to Bear.” One would have
to be made out of stone to not be affected by these songs. The early touring
days must have been . . . for lack of a better word . . . interesting.
I’d like to think that the positive feedback that you got about your songs
kept you going even when the financial rewards may not have been what
you’d like them to be.
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The
“I Know” record didn’t sell a million copies but it did get me work
and it also got air play. Eventually word spread and people started
coming to shows to hear the songs from that record. It was a time
of sleeping on people’s floors and couches and eating at many drive-up
windows. My first cross-country tour in the spring of ‘88 was not
a success to say the least. Things started to turn around the next
month in May when I did a show in Jamaica Plain, MA and the place
was full of enthusiastic people and I started to get the feeling
that I might be able to do this for a while. . .
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Have
you traveled much abroad? Does your humor translate to those who live
off-shore?
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I
travelled to Europe and the UK quite a bit in the first half of
the 90s. I’m starting to make trips that way again, with a couple
shows in Italy next month, The Netherlands in September and maybe
the UK in October. The humor often does not translate well in its
original form to non-NA audiences..
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I’ve
got to ask this — what was the inspiration behind “Prom Night in Pigtown”?
That’s a classic “only John Gorka could get away with this kind of song!"
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I
didn’t go to my high school prom but I did go to my 10 year reunion.
And I had recently been to a party of musician types where Eric
Von Schmidt played a song called “Frogs Go to the Movies” and I
said I’d written a song called “Promnight in Pigtown” but it was
not about pigs. Eric said I should make it about pigs . . . and
so I did.
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And,
by the way, thanks for the pierogi recipe on your website. I’m of half-Polish
descent and I’ve got to say . . . I’ve never had a pierogi with bacon
and sauerkraut! Sounds and smells (virtually) intoxicating! Do you cook
for your family when you’re around?
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I
am better as an eater than as a cook. I do make a few things now
and then. I can make pancakes and breakfast things and pierogi and
I also am not afraid of doing the dishes. Actually, I have professional
dishwashing experience. . . .
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