James Gordon February Newsletter
A picture of me with two dogs and two belly-dancers. Gotta problem with that?
( It's to promote an upcoming benefit concert for K9 Helpers.. see below. When's the benefit for Belly-Dancer and folksinger helpers?)
I'm writing to you today while looking out on a pretty huge blizzard.
It's snowing like it's going out of style, which I suppose it
is. ( you know when they say it's raining cats and dogs?
What kind of livestock descends as snow? Always wondered. ) Just
came back from skiing down the railway tracks but the skis were
behaving more like really skinny snowshoes. Makes me wonder about
the wisdom of setting out next week across the country on a western
tour!
... started out the new year with a really successful Songwriting
Weekend here in Guelph with Katherine ( The Great) Wheatley. Our
concert was sold out as was the 3-day intensive songwriting course.
We had 20 really fine songwriters take part. They all wrote excellent
songs during the retreat. We've vowed to do it again, hopefully
this summer, so we'll keep you posted.
Sometimes even I can't believe what a strange job I have. Just
last week I was at the grocery store in the fish department ordering
three giant fish heads. A friend spotted me there, and she politely
asked what I was going to do with my rather gross-looking purchase.
I replied that I was going to interview them about where they
came from. She didn't really seem that surprised. You can see
the interview yourself on Youtube. Working with "Warmer",
an improv multi-media theatre group in Kitchener, we've been exploring
the issue of local food and the huge carbon footprint left by
shipping our food from all over the globe. As well as the rather
silly fish bit, there's an interview with 2 seedless grapes, and
an 8-minute documentary featuring us playing with our food. You
can find these strange but fun examples of my videography handiwork
at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0k_vi3nqnE#GU5U2spHI_4
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJNh8r-LUl8
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF9zjmNMgLQ
AND while you are in a YouTube kind of mood,
and who isn't really, you can watch a recent performance of me
singing my controversial anti-war song "Casey Sheehan Didn't
Die For Nothing" with my son Geordie at
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YPOPQ2Xcj0
It was filmed last fall in Rockford Illinois.
( thanks to Josh Richardson for posting it!)
OK - February is a bit on the busy side. Here's my calendar. Most
of the month I'll be out in Manitoba, where I haven't been in
a while, and of course I picked FEBRUARY as the best time to visit!
Here's the Schedule. Hope you can join me for one of these shows.
02-Feb-08- Sleeman Centre/ Guelph ON/ Hillside
Inside Festival/ www.HIllsidefestival.ca (I'll be yer M.C)
08-Feb-08 Winterfolk Festival / Toronto ON/ James
Gordon and
Sons/ www.winterfolk.com
We're at the Black Swan Tavern on The Danforth. 8 p.m.
09-Feb-08 Guelph ON Public Library 1:30 pm
at the Main Branch, 100 Norfolk Street. A special event to commemorate
the 125th anniversary of our library, ( the oldest free library
in Ontario!) Amongst the proceedings, I've ( naturally ) written
a special song for the occasion. Check out the library's website-
www.library.guelph.on.ca
10-Feb-08...Guelph
Youth Music Centre/ Guelph ON/ 1:30 p.m./Benefit Concert for K9
Helpers/ (519) 766-3957 or k9helpers@rogers.com
( Be sure to check out the someone bizarre promo photo for this
event on my website, www.jamesgordon.ca. Just me, two belly-dancers,
and two dogs. don't ask)
February 14-to 27th- I'll be taking part in a great new Western
Canadian folk music initiative; a circuit of house concerts throughout
the prairies. Organized by Home Routes out of Winnipeg, they put
together a nice tour for old folkies like me, where we're in a
different living room every night. Check out the list below.
If you'd like to attend one.. email the Homeroutes office at tim@homeroutes.ca or call
1-866-925-6889 ex 207.. They'll give you all the details.
14-Feb-08 Home Routes House Concert Series /Winnipeg MB/
15-Feb-08 Home Routes House Concert Series /Winnipeg MB/
16-Feb-08 Home Routes House Concert Series / Lavinham MB/
17-Feb-08 Candor Books And Music/ Winnipeg MB/ call (204)668-3655
18-Feb-08 Home Routes House Concert Series/ Morden MB
(Tinker Creek )
19-Feb-08 Home Routes House Concert Series/ Carman MB
20-Feb-08 Home Routes House Concert Series/ Holland MB
21-Feb-08 Home Routes House Concert Series/ Baldur MB/
22-Feb-08 Home Routes House Concert Series/ Minnedosa MB
23-Feb-08 Home Routes House Concert Series/ Onanole MB
25-Feb-08 Home Routes House Concert Series/ Neepawa MB
26-Feb-08 Home Routes House Concert Series/ Winnipeg MB
27-Feb-08 Home Routes House Concert Series/Winnipeg MB Sherburn
Ave.
29-Feb-08- Cafe Carpe/Ft. Atkinson WI 8:30 p.m. 18 S Water St
920-563-9391 cafecarpe@sbcglobal.net www.cafecarpe.com
jeez, I forgot that February only has, in this case 29 days...
that means I have to really drive like the passing wind to get
to:
1-Mar-08- Greater Arts Council Art Gallery/ Flint MI
, 816 South Saginaw St. 7:30 p.m. 810-653-7985
2-Mar-08 Sleder's Tavern/ Traverse City MI/ 917
Randolph St. AFTERNOON SHOW 4 p.m. musicmanseamus@hotmail.com
That's all the news for this month. My new Audio Book "The
Highway And I" has been doing very-nicely-thanks-for-asking.
I'll be doing some public readings later in the spring. In the
meantime, along with many other of my little darling recordings,
you can purchase it on the website at www.jamesgordon.ca
Now for my story of the month. Since I haven't been travelling
yet this year, I haven't got a road tale. Instead, I've decided
to answer a question that was asked of me in an intervew a few
weeks ago. "Where did my music come from?", I was innocently
asked. I didn't have a good answer, and it's been bothering me
since. So, I thought I'd bother YOU with a stab at a reply!
WHERE MY MUSIC COMES FROM
by me.
In the old days I used to get in my International Pickup Truck
and go down to the local music yard to pick out the best stuff
they had there. As time went by though, I found that the music
was pretty stale- all the best material had been picked through
by the major music contractors. Then I started to go out and get
my own fresh, wild music, just the way nature made it. For this
you have to go pretty far north these days, ( I'll be hunting
in Manitoba for it soon). You have to go way off the highway,
beyond the broadcast range of any of the easy-listening stations.
When I first saw real, uncut music and heard it in it's pristine
state, I was amazed. There was a huge virgin stand of it, what
we call in the music business a "music stand". It was
as big as four football fields, standing tall and majestic, and
it sounded totally new to my ear. I knew that no one had ever
heard this music before and I wanted it for my own. It was so
big that each separate piece of music, ( what we call in showbiz
a "piece of music") was bigger than three experienced
musicologists could carry. That first year I had to just mark
off the music I wanted and return with the proper musical equipment
the next spring, when we airlifted out enough for two, maybe three
albums.
Flying over the music stands, though, you could see a sad sight:
once proud and independent music that had been bought in bulk
by the major labels. These musical 'hit factories' take the very
best, but then leave it to rot for years until it sounds like
mush. Sometimes they cut the music right there in the field, slicing
it up into thousands of identical pop songs and shipping them
down to L.A. on flatbed trucks. I saw a huge, almost perfect-looking
music stand once, and I realized that it had been sprayed with
chemicals and pumped full of antibiotics to take all the blemishes
away. It was likely headed straight for Celine Dion.
If you don't take personal care of your music, and you don't pick
it yourself, it can sound really terrible. I vowed to look after
my music as best I could, and make sure it was all hand-made.
Some of the big studios will make entire songs just with chainsaws
and hatchets, but I hired local musicians with the finest and
most delicate instruments. I had a choir of old women who knew
how to smooth out the edges of the song, polishing it with caribou
hide I knew that each song would be a unique work of art,
built with love, but I also decided to let a bit of the bare music
show through just the way I found it in nature. True music, not
synthesized like so much of it is today.
Nowadays of course, instead of searching the world for new music,
I am growing my own locally. It's in my own patch out behind the
little Pipe Street Studio, guarded from showbusiness vultures
and jingle writers by scarecrows dressed as entertainment lawyers.
I can pick it just as it ripens and take it straight into the
studio where I sprinkle some organic songdust on it. It's not
as big, and it doesn't appeal to everyone, but it means more to
me, and I know that you the listener have come to expect only
the freshest and best. Of course YOU are the discerning listeners.
Too many so-called music lovers these days are content to have
their music compressed into generic mp3s and listened to on tiny
bud headphones on their ipods. To really EXPERIENCE the music
I'm making, you have to hear it live, which I hope some of you
will do this month!
Thanks as always for listening and reading
James
James Gordon January 08 Newsletter
Happy You Near folks...
'07 was a multifarious whirlwind for me. There's not that many
years when I can report the launch of a new book, a musical AND
a CD, as well as a revival of my folk opera and three major tours
to boot, ( to Japan, British Columbia, Nova Scotia and the American
Mid-west). Thanks to you all for your unwavering support in all
my endeavors. It's been so busy that I'm pleased to report that
this January I'm sticking close to the winter palace here on little
Pipe Street. Catching up on studio work, I'm venturing out only
once for a performance just a few blocks from here.
On Jan 11th if you are in the Guelph area I'm hoping you can join
me for a house concert at 8 p.m. with my songwriting pal Katherine
Wheatley. We're putting on the concert as part of our Winter Songwriting
Retreat at the lovely London House Bed and Breakfast, 80 London
Road West. Fifteen dollars for you mortals, free if you've registered
for the weekend course. It's worth the admission price just to
see this beautiful Victorian mansion. Seating is limited, so reserve
now by emailing me at james@jamesgordon.ca ( By the way,
there are still FOUR spots left for the songwriting course...
ask me for details if you are interested!)
Here are some high-and-lowlights for the year, and instead of
my usual tale-of-the-month, I'll recount my adventures with some
vocabulary-boosting words for you. ( Besides, you all bought my
new book of road stories, "The Highway and I" for Christmas
right, so you don't need another tale just yet.)
Since I last wrote to you, I spent an inordinate amount of time
playing outdoors on the most gelid (footnote 1) of days,
at our second annual carol-sing-in-the-square and at a rally downtown
where we were attempting to ease our collective embarrassment
about Stephen Harper's stance on climate change issues. I debuted
a new and rather gnomic (2) song about my own personal climate-change-addressing
campaign- " Get A Clothesline"!
In Toronto, I helped in the annual reading of Dickens' Christmas
Story, then found myself snowed in for an extra day during a blizzard
that offered a tocsin (3) of things to come: during
the height of the storm there was thunder and lightning while
it was snowing!
As the year wound down, I found myself at the home of Canada's
best-selling author doing a photo shoot for an upcoming fundraiser
with 4 dogs and two belly-dancers, ( don't ask!) Just two nights
ago I was at a party where I had been asked to provide a little
entertainment. Wanting to try something different, I worked out
two jazz-like pieces on the trumpet with my piano-playing friend
Ragtime Lois Cherry, though in this genre I am a sciolist (4).
We thought we were going to be OK till we discovered that right
after us on the programme was Canadian jazz legend Peter Appleyard!
After we struggled through HIS musical territory, I thought it
only fair to ask him to try singing a folksong, but with great
perspicacity (5) he turned down that invitation.
With my Kitchener Ontario-based theatre group "Warmer",
I filmed a guerilla mall-activity designed to stimulate discussion
about our Christmas Holiday habits. Check out my short Video documentary
"Slow Walking In The Conestoga Mall" at www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJRyowvToTc
My Year in Review:
January: · A revival of my Folk Opera "Hardscrabble
Road" in Toronto and Kitchener Ontario. Response is enthusiastic,
though my own enthusiasm for mounting full-fledged musical productions
with no financial backing starts to waver.
· I appear on a public affairs television programme
called "Final Round", where local celebrities gather
in a 'boxing ring' and debate current issues. I figure I'd be
not too bad at this, since my works seems to involve a lot of
political commentary. The first question is "Do you think
the judges are too hard on the contestants in "American Idol"? This
sets the tone for the dialogue. Having never watched "Idol",
and surprised at being mistaken for someone who would be remotely
interested in this kind of tarradiddle (6), my answer is less
than inspiring, and by the end of the show, feeling rather deracinated
(7), I mentally erase "media pundit" from my list of
potential careers to choose from once "huge rock star"
is no longer my job description.
February:
· After vowing not to take on any more time-sucking volunteering-in-the-community
projects for a while, my friend Mark Goldberg and I co-found the
"Wellington Water Watchers", a group dedicated to protecting
our local drinking water supply, especially from corporate giant
Nestle. They take 3.5 million litres a day of OUR water, essentially
for free, and sell it back to us in questionable plastic bottles
at a staggering profit. It's a great scam, and I recommend it
to any of you who would like to make a quick buck before we run
out of water. By year's end we have more than 600 members and
have generated a lot of publicity for this issue.
· I spend much
of the month doing song-writing workshops in schools in Southern
Ontario, ( After vowing to cut back on these since writing four
songs a day in classrooms feels too much like a real job, which
I've never had)
March:
· The debut of the first "James Gordon and Sons"
CD. Evan, Geordie and I launch "Nine Green Bottles"
( you've all got it right?) in Toronto during a huge snowstorm.
Both audience members who brave the weather to attend seem to
enjoy the show. We then do a tour of Nova Scotia together, where
we are so spoiled with downeaster hospitality that we are incapable
of looking after ourselves when we return.
April: · The debut of my new musical play "Tryst and Snout"- a full-fledged musical production with no financial backing!
May: I tour British Columbia and Japan. Adventures include having all my CDs stolen from the lobby of the theatre I played at in Duncan B.C., and playing an imitation American Honky-Tonk Bar in Hikone Japan called "Jack And Betty's Amenity Spot"!
June: I perform in three cities in one day! ( Kitchener, Hamilton and Toronto)
July: For the first time ever, after ONE show on the 1st day of the month-- I have a performance-free relatively recumbent (8) month... and finally learn that a blank spot on my calendar doesn't have to mean 'unemployment'-- it can be called "holiday time". What a concept.
August: The boys and I play in Batchewana Bay and Agawa Bay in Northern Ontario, where we are given the BEST LODGING OF THE YEAR in our own cabin on Lake Superior. At the Agawa gig ( in the campground amphitheater), we also bestow the BEST MEAL OF THE YEAR award upon our generous hosts, before waddling to our postprandial (9)concert. I consider myself a decent deipnosophist (10), but at this fabulous northern-flavoured meal I was outdone by my two sons.
September: I begin working on a multi-media 'activist theatre' project in Kitchener Ontario called "Warmer". I play outdoors in Mississauga and it starts to snow.. not the kind of climate change I had been thinking of.
October: Tour
Midwestern U.S. states with Geordie. I know, that's exiguous (11),
but today I'm a bit of a flaneur (12)
.
November: the 30th anniversary re-union concerts for Tamarack,
AND the official book launch for "The Highway And I"!
That catches us up to December, described above. At the risk of being perceived as a mendicant, (13) I urge you to check the website, www.jamesgordon.ca for updates and mail orders, the Myspace site www.myspace.com/jamesgordonmusic to check out some tunes and info, or if you'd like to hire us, try www.sonicbids.com/JamesGordon
Thanks as always, for reading my persiflage
(14). Have a jocund (15)
New Year's Eve, but may it not be too bibulous! (16)
James
1 Extremely cold; icy.
2 Uttering, containing, or characterized by maxims;
wise and pithy
3 a warning
4 One who has only superficial knowledge
5 Clearness of understanding or insight; penetration, discernment
6 Pretentious nonsense
7 displaced from one's native or accustomed environment
8 resting; inactive; idle.
9 happening or done after a meal
10 someone who is skilled at table talk
11 Extremely scanty; meager
12 a lounger; a loafer
13 A beggar; especially, one who makes a business of begging
14 frivolous or bantering talk: a frivolous manner of treating
any subject, light raillery
15 Full of or expressing high-spirited merriment; light-hearted;
mirthful
16 of, pertaining to, marked by, or given to the consumption of
alcoholic drink
( oh, and Gallimaufry is a medley or hodgepodge!)
November 07 New News
Just Back from my tour of the Midwestern States with Geordie Gordon! Here we are in Crystals Falls Michigan. This was an amazing theatre built in the 20's. Everything is still the same including the audience. Can you tell that I'm afraid of heights?
my BIG news is that I've finally finished my long-awaited collection of road stories! It's an audio book, and it's dedicated to the memory of Miss Sue. Here's the official press release from the head office:
Pipe Street Records Proudly
Presents
James Gordon,
with his new Audio Book-on-CD
The Highway And I
"Stories and Songs From My 30-year Romance With The Road"
James Gordon has been collecting comic tales
of action and misadventure from his long career in the Canadian
music business for 30-odd years. Very odd years. Since he began
including a new story each month on his now-legendary e-newsletter,
fans have been clamouring for a book-form collection of these
tales. After pulling them all together, James realized that these
road stories should be listened to while YOU are on the road,
and the result is "The Highway And I", a FIVE CD AUDIO
BOOK! You can take it with you and listen to these road reminiscences
on the same highways he's been criss-crossing for a generation.
Five and a half hours of listening! That will take you from Toronto
to Detroit and liven up the deadly dull Highway 401! The first
four CDs contain SIXTY-ONE stories, and the fifth is a compilation
of TWENTY road songs that James has recorded, drawing on his catalogue
of over 30 CDs. Included are three new songs never before recorded.
Some of the stories not to miss: "The Great Duncan Heist",
"Astronaut For A Day", "Moose On The Highway",
"Thorndale Farmer Appreciation Night", "The Stroke
Survivor's Luncheon" and "Montana And Idaho", which
details an infamous gig at a nudist resort. ( That's the late
great Miss Sue Baru in the picture, taken on her last ride!)
Gordon's most ambitious recording project yet, "The Highway
And I" is retailing for the remarkably reasonable price of
30.00. For you stalwart newsletter readers, if you order a copy
now, you can get in on the EARLYBIRD price of just 25 dollars!
( Since the U.S. dollar has decided to fall to the lowly level
of the Canadian Dollar, this price holds for both countries.)
This offer is just for the month of October, so place your order
today!
You can order from this website, ( go to the order form page)- OR send a cheque for 25 dollars plus 4 dollars postage ( It's a big package!) to Pipe Street Publishing, Box 714 Guelph ON Canada N1H 4A5. If you live in Canada, add 6% GST, ( 1.50) and if you are lucky enough to live in Ontario, add 8%PST ( 2.00). It's a steal! My 2-CD best-of collection Mining For Gold is 25 bucks, and it's just TWO cds! We're practically giving them away! You can also send your Visa OR Mastercard number, along with your mailing address, to james@jamesgordon.ca or fax 519-837-3776.
I'll be doing readings from "The Highway And I" at bookstores and concert appearances over the next few months. Thanks to all of you who have encouraged me to complete this project.
And there's other news too!
I'd also like to announce a new project with my Guelph songwriter pal Katherine Wheatley. We're hosting a
"Winter Songwriting Weekend"
here in Guelph January 11, 12 and 13 08.
Here's the press release:
Two of Canada's finest songwriting instructors, Katherine Wheatley
and James Gordon, are presenting a unique opportunity in
Canada's renowned "City of Music" for experienced and
aspiring writers. For three days this January, they will
share their considerable knowledge about their craft, helping
you to improve your songwriting while providing a fun and relaxing
escape from the bleak midwinter!
The immersion course takes place at the luxurious and historic
London House Bed And Breakfast, a gorgeous 1893 Victorian mansion
overlooking the lovely Exhibition Park, a short walk from downtown
Guelph.
Limited to just 20 registrants, the weekend, (7 p.m. Friday to
4 p.m. Sunday) includes:
· Songwriting sessions with both Katherine and James.
No Experience Necessary!
· Song-sharing circles and jam sessions
· One-on-one mentoring
· A Friday night house concert and reception featuring
Wheatley and Gordon
· A songwriting assignment
· Q and A session about songwriting and the music business
· All meals including the London B and B's famous breakfasts
are provided.
( Drinks and finger foods Friday night, Dinner Saturday Night,
Breakfast and Lunch Saturday and Sunday, refreshments throughout
the day)
Registration Fee: 285 dollars PLUS accommodation. ( Earlybird
price of 250 dollars if you sign up by Dec. 1st. ) If you
live near or in Guelph, you don't HAVE to book accommodation,
but it will be more fun if you do!
Accommodation: For this special event The London B and B offers
a 10% discount on rooms, and 20% if you book before December
1st! Prices range from 75 (single occupancy) to 145 dollars (double
occupancy )per night plus taxes. Each room is unique, some are
ensuite and some with shared bath.
Book your rooms at www.londonhouse.ca
info@londonhouse.ca 1-877-836-6874 or 519-824-6874
When their seven sumptuous rooms are booked, they will
book you a room in one of three nearby compatible B and B's.
you guys know all about me: but here's Katherine's bio. We've
been writing some songs together lately. She's the best in the
biz!
·According to the Toronto Star,
Katherine Wheatley "turns pebbles of every day life into
dreamy mountains of song". Her first CD spent 17 weeks
on Sam The Record Man's Top 10 Independent Charts. Since
it's release, Katherine's been a regular at folk festivals, concert
series and clubs across Canada. As well as her own career,
she is a member of the Toronto band, Betty and the Bobs, a guitarist
in Wendell Ferguson's trio "The Smoking Section" and
she presents songwriting workshops at schools, folk clubs and
music stores across Canada and the U.S. Katherine's been
a musical guest on Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe, TVO's Studio Two,
CTV's Canada AM and Good Morning Canada. "As a listener,
it's hard not to sit back, close your eyes and watch the movie
play. And man, can this serene red head ever play guitar"
(See Magazine, Edmonton). www.katherinewheatley.com
you can register by sending a cheque
payable to Pipe Street Publishing, or enclosing a Visa or Mastercard
# with your name, address and contact info to Pipe Street Publishing,
Box 714 Guelph ON N1H 6L3 OR by e-mailing the info to james@jamesgordon.ca OR by faxing 519-837-3776
. We can do it over the phone if by chance I'm at home, at 519-837-3757.
· The great New Jersey folksinger Mike Agranoff has recorded
my silly ditty "The Humline Song" on his new CD "Ain't
Never Been Plugged". He's releasing it this month. You can
order it directly from Mike at Mike@MikeAgranoff.com
· I was a finalist in a songwriting contest that I forgot I had entered. The international Unisong contest, which I only entered because the entry fee included a free membership in SONICBIDS, picked my song "Levee's Broken" as a top-twenty finalist. Didn't win though. Story of my life. You've got that song on the "Nine Green Bottles" CD, right? Oh dear.. well, you can order it from www.borealisrecords.com
· In the Pipe Street Studio, we're celebrating the release this month of two fine albums produced here by two excellent Ontario roots acts. Allison Lupton's new CD is finished, ( we recorded her debut here, and we KNOW you'll like this one!) order it through learig@sympatico.ca. "Two Roads Home" a very distinctive duo from Toronto, finished up their CD "Sweet Shadows" here, and you can order it from their website http://www.tworoadshome.com
Here at Pipe Street HQ.. we've got a new face helping out around here... Sebastion Bevelander is a co-op student in Grade 12 here in Guelph-- he's a skilled musician and will be working for slave wages transcribing songs for my songbook.. due out next year. Watch for it!
That's it... thanks as always for listening
and reading... Hope to see you out on the road somewhere...
As promised, a few words about Miss Sue for your story-of-the-month.
Cheers
James
In her declining years, the Lovely Miss Sue
Baru was acting less lady-like than in her prime. After her fuel
pump needed to be replaced, which broke her heart, she growled
and groaned her way down the road, attracting suspicious glances
from other cars. She became incontinent and would leave little
dribbles in driveways and parking lots everywhere. Very embarrassing.
In her dotage she eventually became a gasket case. Her head gasket
went... and we decided that to leave her on life support systems
after that was going to be just too painful for her. She tried
her best.. Some days she'd work fine, but others she'd get all
boiling mad and her radiator would make a real scene.
I couldn't even get her under her own power to the car lot, where
they offered the humiliating sum of 500 dollars for her on a trade-in
IF I could get her there.
I had to wait a few days for my shiny new Subaru to arrive at
the car lot... and Miss Sue behaved fairly well while I waited...
she even made it all the way to the car lot, ( about half an hour
from home) so I could prove to them that she existed. Then, on
the appointed day, we departed on what we thought was her last
ride early in the morning. She made it to the edge of town and
then gave up. After some coaxing, we turned around and she sputtered
her way home. I had to call the car lot and tell them I would
try another day.
We tried again. Same deal. Then, to test her out.., I took her
on a short trip north of town. She did fine. She just wouldn't
drive to the car lot. Who could blame her? Eventually I got my
son Evan to help and he followed me in his car, figuring if she
just made it half way, I'd abandon her where she quit, and I'd
try to get the rest of the way the next day. Proud to the end,
with Evan watching from behind, this time she made it all the
way, though the car lot was closed. Evan gave me a ride home,
and to prove that she really ran, the next morning I hitched a
ride early to the lot.... drove her to a nearby breakfast place
before the lot opened... then roared in to view just as they opened,
for all to see. We closed the deal for the new car, I said goodbye
to Sue, and as I was about to leave in the NEW car, the mechanic
came in to say that he couldn't get her started. She had one last
trick in her. I left as fast as I could.
We did some hard travelling together. I regret that I never fixed
that big dent in her fine figure that she got in Middletown Ohio,
( a story in the new book!) It made her look old. I figure 10
car years is about 100 person years these days.... so she did
pretty well!
Reviewers have been more than kind about the new James Gordon And Sons Cd 'Nine Green Bottles" too. ( You've got it right? Oops.. if you've neglected to purchase a copy you can order it from any record store, ( remember those?), or online from Borealis Records at www.borealisrecords.com
You can read recent reviews and listen to 3 songs at http://www.sonicbids.com/JamesGordon
If you're not tired of weblinking by now, there's a couple of
interesting, ( to me anyway)- stories and interviews at http://www.sonicbids.com/JamesGordon2
including "A conversation with James Gordon" from
the New Quarterly, and a story from Nova Scotia called "Master
Songwriter In Tune With The Valley".
Here in the Pipe Street Studio, the demand for recording time
here is so great that Evan Gordon is now working nearly full time
as a producer/engineer when he's not on the road. just like his
old man. - We've recently upgraded our equipment and spruced up
the joint, and it's going pretty well around the clock.
In honour of my old band Tamarack's 30th Anniversary this November-- here's a list of milestones from that group's shady past!
1. Worst Motel: Barrhead Alberta. - This place
put wet sheets on the beds when their dryer broke down. They explained
that they thought the sheets would dry faster on the beds than
in a pile, since it was the middle of winter. At least they had
been washed. #2 was also in Alberta, a dismal cold room in Oyen
where we had to break the ice in the toilet bowl before using
it. #3 was a really scary place in Chicago, where the proprietors
were really surprised that we wanted a room for more than an hour!
2. Cheapest Motel: Central Butte Saskatchewan, ( 10 dollars a
night!)--- I'll always remember this place because, on a blustery
winter day, it's where I started to write my song "The Lonesome
Cowboy's Lament", which begins- "there was no blind
on the window/ I looked outside and watched the wind blowin'/
the snow tracks that led to that ten dollar dive's door".
3. Worst Road Food: Packenham Ontario, ( which cured me of Hot
Turkey Sandwiches with Gravy). There are hundreds of runners-up
for this prize though.
4. Best Road Food: Dawson City Yukon. Worth the drive fer sure.
5. Furthest North Gig: Inuvik NWT.
6. Furthest South: Gaudalajara, Mexico. ( This year I got to add
the Farthest-From-Home gig ever: Hanoi, Vietnam.)
7. Stupidest Drive: Sydney Nova Scotia to Hamilton Ontario, non-stop.
8. Scariest Drive:, Winter storm, Kootenay Mountains, B.C. ( where
the promoter of the gig we were driving to advised us to "stick
to the mountain side of the road"! )
9. Least Successful Drive: Missed Trans-Canada Highway by 18 feet
after hitting black ice near Blind River Ontario.
10. Most Brutal Tour: 50 shows in 50 Days, 1986
11. Worst Tour Van: 1975 Dodge. ( OK. I can't believe that I bought
another Dodge after that, but my Dodge Caravan mini-van in the
late 90's was a TOTAL Lemon.)- Of course I'm now touring in the
Lovely Miss Sue Baru, who is celebrating her 10th birthday this
year!
12. Longest Gig: 7 hours straight in a bar in St. John's Newfoundland.
13. Largest Venue: Cotton Bowl, Dallas Texas, where I also visited
the World's Largest Bar and ate the World's Most Poisonous corn
dog!
14. Smallest Venue: The furnace room of the library in Elgin Ontario.
15. Tightest fit on tour: 5 people plus a double bass, a dozen
instruments and a lot of gear in a Pinto Station Wagon, 1978.
16. Worst Bathroom: Frontenac Hotel, Kingston ON. You don't want
to know.
17. Most Inebriated Audience: German sailors in Ginger's Tavern,
Halifax NS
18. Longest Drive to Shortest Gig: Ottawa ON to Chicago IL for
a fifteen-minute appearance
19. Coldest Gig: Ottawa Ontario, outdoors at Winterfest.
20. Hottest Gig: When we did the T-shirt, this honour also belonged
to Ottawa, but since then I've played in Washington DC when it
was over 100 degrees F.
21. Poorest Paying Gig: Rockwood ON, New Year's Eve 1980, where
our bar tab exceeded our fee by 150 dollars.
22. Most Exciting Gig: As always... it's my next one! After all
these years, I still can't wait!
Thanks for listening and reading. Have a great year. Keep checking
jamesgordon.ca for details.
all da best
James
A pic from my trip to Vietnam
Below, I'm on stage in Hanoi belting it out with too Vietnamese Pop Stars. Yes, we're singing "We Are The World"! And, in Vietnam, I'm tall! The woman beside me almost wearing a red dress is "Missou".. I forget the gent's name, but he obviously got all his rock moves from studying my instructional videos.
This Summer I had the great pleasure of debuting "James Gordon And Sons"- with my uber-talented boys Evan and Geordie we played some folk festivals, did a tour right around Lake Superior, and finished our first album together, due out on Borealis Records in March. Here we are at the great folk fest in Red Rock Ontario. That's Evan on the accordion pretending he's a folkie.
Photos
by
Margaret
Evans
This summer also saw the launching of THE ERAMOSA BELLE, my new solar houseboat, on the Severn River in Ontario's Cottage Country. Isn't it Cute? It's got a stage on top, naturally, so watch for dockside concerts next year. It's a true folkie boat, took two years to build with my father Don, and it's all made out of cedar and pine!
Then In September, I was priviledged to be able to make my third consecutive appearance at the Deep Roots Festival in Wolfville Nova Scotia.
Look how happy that makes me! (Photo by Ellie Kennard)
- Just heard that The Great Canadian Songbook (Volume 1) is finished and available in stores. Sheet music and lyrics for 50 fine songs about Canada. I'm proud to say that "Teamwork" , a song that I co-wrote with Alex Sinclair, is among them.
You can find out more about it at www.fromseatosea.com
Check out some new pictures from my travels on the "Travels With James" page.
( Check out Other tales on the "ROAD DIARY" Page)
I'll update the story every month I promise..
Thanks for reading... Drop me a line at james@jamesgordon.ca
if you'd like to receive an e-mailed newsletter once a month.
Here's my favourite sign from my travels last year.
This was in Vietnam.. I want to work for this company-
Cheers
James