|
01.
. .
True in Time .. 
listen
to 45 seconds
02.
.
. Nazarene Guitar...
listen
to one minute
03. ..
Arroyo Seco...
listen
to 45 seconds
04.
. .Tatooed
...
listen
to 45 seconds..
05.
. .Mennonite
Girl ..
listen
to 45 seconds
06.
.. Crowded Heart
..
listen
to 45 seconds
07.
...Fallen
For You..
listen
to 45 seconds
08.
...Cry
for Help ..
listen
to 45 seconds
09.
...The
Body Parts Medley...
listen
to one minute
10..
. Red Eye & Roses.....
listen
to one minute
11.
.. Blues with
a Rising Sun..
listen
to 45 seconds
12.
. .The Ballad
of Iris & Pearl..
listen
to one minute
13.
. .True in Time ..
listen
to 45 seconds
John
Gorka: Composer,
Cover Photo, Liner Note, Vocals & Acoustic Guitar
Jonatha Brooke, Eliza Gilkyson, Germaine Brooks, Kathleen
Johnson & Lucy Kaplansky: Backing vocals
Tommy Barbarella: Keyboards
J.T. Bates: Drums
Dirk Freymuth: Electric Guitar and Baritone Electric Guitar
Joe Savage: Pedal Steel and National Steel Guitars
Joel Sayles: Upright Bass and Vocals on “The Ballad of Iris
& Pearl”
Enrique Toussaint: Electric Bass
Don Richmond and Jim Bradley: Backing vocals on “Arroyo
Seco”
Pete
Kennedy: Co-Writer Title Track 'True in Time'
Rollie
Bible: Photographic Reproduction (B&W photo)
Jon Reischl: Design, Layout
Mark
Dann: Engineer
Engineer, Mixing & Producer : Rob Genadek
Recording
locations:
- Howlin' Dog Recording, Alamosa, CO
- Mark Dann Studios, NYC, NY
- Studio 45, Austin, TX Studio 5525, Edina, MN
- The Brewhut, Minneapolis, MN
- Uptown Sound Recording, Minneapolis, MN
|
|
Iconic
singer-songwriter John Gorka will kick off 2018 with a brand
new studio album, True In Time, on January 19, 2018. As
well as being Gorka's first new studio album since 2014’s
Bright Side Of Down, this will be the first Red House album
released through the Compass Records Group in Nashville,
which acquired the venerable folk/Americana label on November
1st, 2017. Produced by Rob Genadek at Uptown Sound in Minneapolis,
it features a band of some of the Twin Cities best musicians
in live sessions, with vocal cameos contributed by fellow
folk luminaries Jonatha Brooke, Eliza Gilkyson, and Lucy
Kaplansky.
True In Time is an engaging, personal album that shows the
full range of Gorka’s artistry, exhibiting his spirited
acoustic guitar playing, insightful lyrics and wry, witty
storytelling. The tracks capture the sound of career musicians
(and friends) who understand where Gorka’s music comes from
and instinctively knew what to contribute. You can hear
the songs lock into place with a spontaneity and vibe that
makes you, the listener, feel as if you’ve been invited
to sit in. There’s a warmth, both sonically and in the interaction
of the players, that makes this one of Gorka’s best, and
that’s saying something.
The
tracks sound fresh and lived in at the same time. “A lot
of the songs on this record remind me of Utah Phillips’
line ‘The past didn't go anywhere’ and Faulkner's ‘The past
is never dead. It’s not even past,’” says Gorka of the album’s
themes. “I wrote the title song with Pete Kennedy (The Kennedys).
When Carrie Fisher and her mom, Debbie Reynolds, died within
a day of each other I quoted lines from Paul Simon's ‘Mother
and Child Reunion’ on Facebook — ‘Oh I would not give you
false hope on this strange and mournful day. But a mother
and child reunion is only a motion away.’ Pete responded,
‘Maybe all songs come true in time.’ Later he wrote, ‘True
in time sounds like a song,’ and we proceeded to write the
song long distance via the internet. We collaborated on
the title and the lyrics and I came up with the tune,” Gorka
says. “I think that ‘What is true?' is a question a lot
of us are asking today.”
Both "Arroyo Seco" and “Iris & Pearl” were born at Eliza
Gilkyson's Casa de Musica songwriter workshop near Taos,
NM. “Iris & Pearl” was inspired by the names of Eliza's
two dogs and their spirit. "I think they could have done
all those things that they did in the song." says Gorka.
“Nazarene Guitar,” inspired by his 20-year-old Martin guitar,
was written for his friends at Godfrey Daniels Coffeehouse
in Bethlehem, PA, where he got his start as a songwriter.
Three
are earlier songs previously performed live but never before
recorded for an album: “Blues with a Rising Sun,” a song
about bluesman Son House and “Red Eye & Roses” were “lost”
songs. “Someone sent me a cassette of me singing ‘Rising
Sun’ on the Gene Shay radio show in Philadelphia around
the time I'd written it, and “Red Eye & Roses” was retrieved
by singer Anne Hills a few years ago. “The Body Parts Medley”
has long been a frequent request at his live performances.
John
Gorka continues to find new insights in the commonplace,
beauty in the ordinary, the twist of bitter in the sweet,
all delivered with one of the most distinctive folks voices
of our time..
The
album was recorded “old school” with the musicians all playing
together in one place, making up their own parts in the
moment or in reaction to the demos he and Genendek had circulated
prior to recording. The result is a lively, immediate listening
experience certain to find a treasured spot in the collection
of long time fans.
|
John Gorka
(with band) - Arroyo Seco
