Pipe Street Records
Proudly Presents BRAND NEW FROM PIPE STREET RECORDS!
June 2005
Pipe Street Records
Proudly Presents
the 'original cast' studio recording of James Gordon's acclaimed folk opera "Hardscrabble Road"
This ground-breaking musical theatre production, technically an 'opera' since the play is entirely sung, uses sharp political satire and serious dramatic commentary to tell the tale of a group of homeless people in an inner Canadian city. Six main characters sing of their plight and point out the personal impact that our current global situation can have on us all. Gordon's most ambitious work, with 24 new songs; it manages to convey an important and timely, politically-charged message with a sense of humour. Quite possibly the first "anti-globalization activist musical", Hardscrabble Road raises the art of the 'protest song' to a new and entertaining level!
Inspired by the "Beggar's Opera" and its successor the "Three-Penny Opera"- Hardscrabble Road's music is a hybrid combination of folk, pop, jazz, rock and world beat sounds. Recorded at Guelph's Pipe Street Studio and produced by James and his son Evan, this recording features the original cast from the 2003 live debut at Guelph's River Run Centre. Gordon shares the lead vocals with a 'Who's Who" of the Guelph area's music scene: Ken Brown, Nonie Crete, Sandy Horne, Amy Nodwell and Ryan Schneider. Lois Cherry, Marion Linton, Evan Gordon and Randall Coryell join James as the principle instrumentalists.
Robert Reid of Nightlife Magazine said this about the play: "Gordon's satirical wit is sharp, but it's leavened with moments of compassion and tenderness, which makes for a poignant musical experience".
We think you'll agree.
You can order the CD by Clicking HERE or by calling in an order at 519-837-3757 or faxing 519-837-3776 The CD costs 17.00 Cdn plus applicable taxes and shipping... BUT HERE's THE COOL PART...
You can get in on the JUNE Special if you order before July 1st.... Buy a copy of HARDCSRABBLE road... and get ANY OTHER CD available on the website for HALF PRICE!
The release of the CD co-incides with a live presentation of the show in Brampton Ontario June 17th,8:00 p.m. at Ken Whillans Square beside City Hall , as part of the Brampton Folk Festival pre-festival events.
March 2004
Endomusia: a new CD of original songs, featuring Sandy Horne and Marion Linton with special guests Jeff Bird, Donna Creigton, Stephen Fearing, Evan and Geordie Gordon, Alex Sinclair and Jude Vadala. Produced by James Gordon
To order Endomusia- call Borealis Records at their toll-free order-line (877) 530-4288 or e-mail: info@borealisrecords.com or go to the Borealis Website : www.borealisrecords.com
14 new songs! Small Town Prairie Gigs/ Randal Dooley/ Weapons of Mass Instruction/ the Queen of the Bingo Palace/ Carlyle Lake/ The Bonny Earl of Murray/ Just Like Davey Jones/ The Seeking/ To The Walls/ Mesopotamia/ Saugeen Gypsies/ World Gone Mad/ Traverse City/ Friendly Fire/
Listen to "Weapons of Mass Instruction" and "To The Walls" in mp3 format by
AND: Come to the official CD release concert March 26th in Toronto at Eastminster United Church, 310 Danforth Ave. tickets 20.00 ( 25.00 at the door)- call 416-323-0223 -featuring most of the cast from the CD as well as
special guests Anne Lindsay and Tony Quarrington!
May 2004
THE SONG THE RIVER SINGS
Commissioned by the Canadian Heritage River Society, This is a musical paddle down 12 great Canadian rivers. As well as a theme song for heritage rivers, for the occasion I wrote new songs for the Missinaibi, Yukon, Coppermine, Margaree, and North Saskatchewan rivers. I recycled songs I'd previously written for the Fraser, Grand, Rideau and St. Marys rivers, and I've borrowed a great song from Alex Sinclair about the Soper, and one from Newfoundland's Bud Davidge about the Bay du Nord. I've also recorded my first traditional song all in French, (vraiment!), the voyageur song "le canot d'ecorce" from Quebec's Jaques-Cartier River. On Pipe Street Records, it features Sandy Horne on bass, Marion Linton on fiddle, and Jude Vadala on back-up vocals.
1. Lessons Of The River (Missinaibi) 2. Far From Home (Fraser) 3. Maggie of the Margaree 4. The Barren Lands (Coppermine) 5. Roll On North Saskatchewan 6. Ol' Cane (Bay du Nord) 7. She Is Fickle (Grand) 8. Soper River Song 9. Swamp Fever (Rideau) 10. The Sault Ste. Marie Canal (St. Marys) 11. Yukon River Jig (The Thirty Mile) 12. Le canot d'écorce (Jacques-Cartier) 13. The Song The River Sings
On Pipe Street Records.. CLICK HERE to order
JUNE 2004
Songs From The Lost Villages
"Songs From The Lost Villages" tells the story of the 'lost' villages along the Canadian side of the St. Lawrence river near Cornwall. Seven ancient settlements were flooded out when the St. Lawrence Seaway was built 50 years ago. The buildings of Upper Canada Village are all taken from these towns. Sponsored by the Lost Villages Historical Society, with a generous grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation ( your casino losses at work!)- this unique project combines 5 songs that I composed for the album, one song by Alex Sinclair, and 6 created by students of the Rothwell-Osnabruck school in Ingleside, ( one of the townsites created when the villages were flooded). Elders that remember those tumultuous times went in to the school and related stories to the students, who created songs based on these tales with the help of myself and Sandy Horne. These songs feature the students themselves performing the songs live in concert, and the others were recorded here at the Pipe Street Studio with the help of Sandy, Jude Vadala and Tony Quarrington on dobro, guitar and mandolin.
On Pipe Street Records, you can order this CD directly through the Lost Villages Website, www.lostvillages.ca, or contacting the Lost Villages Museum 613-534-2197 cfmarin@sympatico.ca
The CD featurs an extensive booklet with archival photos, anecdotes, and maps of the area.
1. Aultsville Memories 2. Old Barbershop Days 3. Hydro Man 4. Mille Roches Girls 5. Ghosts Of Our Villages 6. No Road Home 7. Rosie And Clay 8. Mary Lynn Johnston's Chore 9. The Soul Of Moulinette 10. The Moccasin 11. Back in 1893 12. Sunday Afternoons
ALSO NEW..
James Gordon Guitar String Jewellery
This is something I never thought I'd be offering to you folks. I've never actually worn jewellery in my life, and I'm not starting now..... BUT... while visiting my jeweller friend Mark Videan in Traverse City Michigan.. ( I guess since he's an American he's a 'jeweler' not a 'jeweller'-- I don't know how you guys lost that extra 'l')--, I was complaining that I always seem reluctant to throw out my nice bronze and silver used guitar strings. One thing led to another... and Mark has come up with a really great design for guitar-string bracelets and earrings... he's added stirling silver to them, and they look quite lovely if I do say so myself. Each item is made from a well-worn string that once lived on my 1967 Martin D-18 Guitar. Songs were written on those strings. Many shows were played, ( I'm kinda lazy about changing them ). These strings have been all over the place, and now they could end up on your wrist. Cool, eh?
There's an even cooler part.
With each purchase, The value of one set of six NEW strings will be donated to the ArtsCan Circle, an organization which collects and delivers musical instruments to Native communities, where teams of creative artists bring hands-on instruction and encouragement to at-risk youth...no strings attached. Find out more about ArtscanCircle and the work of it's founder, harmonica virtuoso Mike Stevens at their website: www.artscancircle.ca
I hope you enjoy wearing these strings as much as I did playing them. Here's what they look like. They cost 45 dollars plus taxes and shipping, and you can order them from the orderform page by CLICKING HERE.
Also new and of interest: Two of my songs are included in this lovely new CD called
CANOESONGS Volume 1
Produced by Paul Mills... this compilation includes songs by Bruce Cockburn, Connie Kaldor, Tanglefoot, Nancy White, Ian Tamblyn, Tamarack, my ol' pal David Archibald, Eileen McGann and more. My tunes are "That Old Cedar Strip" and "The Song My Paddle Sings". I think you'd enjoy it. You can order it directly from the Canoesongs website: canoesongs.ca
FOR OTHER RELEASES.. ( and yes, there are LOTS)
See the Catalogue for more details, or go straight to the Order Form if you are easily convinced.