I am trying something new, turning Gord’s Gold into blog posts. The way it will work is what you see in bold are what I would have said on the show I I didn’t have time pressure. In between are the songs in the set following the bold. At the end I’ll embed the show for you to listen.
Gord’s Gold 1: Welcome My Gentle Listeners. Woody Guthrie said that it was his job to comfort the disturb and disturb the comfortable. We are going to start the show with a song that disturbed me, sometimes that’s necessary. Sometimes we need to think the unthinkable. When I played Mark Rubin a Jew from Oklahoma, that’s how he bills himself, last week I said he doesn’t pull his punches. Blues for the Innocent is a gut punch. Don’t worry, things will get lighter, there are even hobbits.
Mark Rubin – Blues for the Innocent
Kemp Harris – Standing Your Ground
Jumaane Smith – St. James Infirmary
Meredith Moon – East City Blues
Gord’s Gold 2: Most political songs are boilerplate but not the first two songs in that set. After Mark Rubin we heard Gord’s Gold favorite, Kemp Harris. I told Kemp, he’s a mensch. We heard his biting Standing Your Ground. We then heard a song from the Public Song Project, century old songs in the public domain, St. James Infirmary. That’s on my short list of greatest songs ever written. That was performed by jazz trumpeter and vocalist Jumaane Smith. We finished with East City Blues by Meredith Moon. I love getting music that I love from strangers. I had no idea who she was other than that she was Canadian until I started preparing this intro. Then I found out that she’s a natural for Gord’s Gold, Gordon Lightfoot’s daughter!
Like Jesus Alex Radus is from Bethlehem, PA in Alex’s case. I had him confused with somebody else and thought I didn’t like him. Then a few weeks ago I heard him do a set and discovered that I love his music. I need to do penance. He played many songs I loved but We Can’t Play Like Django has the advantage of supplying its segue.
Alex Radus – We Can’t Play Like Django
Django Reinhardt – Minor Swing
LaTresa – Ode to Arnold Shultz
Shawn Kamp – Sis Draper
Gord’s Gold 3: That was the artists honoring artists set. We followed We Can’t Play Like Django with Django Reinhardt’s Minor Swing. When I asked the best guitarist I know who the greatest guitarist was, he didn’t say Hendrix or anyone from the rock world but the king of Gypsy Jazz Django Reinhardt. I know people object to using “gypsy” but that’s the word that Django, a Romani, used for the genre. He was caught in a fire, and the ring finger and pinkie of his left hand were fused. That makes his playing even more remarkable. Then we heard Ode to Arnold Shultz by LaTresa. LaTresa is a Mississippian living Nashville who ranges far afield musically. Arnold Shultz was the son of a slave who was in innovative fiddler and guitarist that was a huge influence on Bill Monroe. We finished with Sis Draper by Shawn Kamp. It’s a co-write with Guy Clark.
Next up is When You Were King by Diyet and the Love Soldiers. She’s an Indigenous artist from the Yukon, that’s a first for this show. The promised hobbits are coming at the end of this set.
Diyet and the Love Soldiers – When You Were King (Acoustic)
Rod Picott – I Coulda Been the King
Maggie’s Wake – Bridget O’Brien
Colm R. McGuinness – Hobbit Drinking Songs
Gord’s Gold 4: When You Were King was followed by I Coulda Been the King by my old friend Rod Picott. Then came Bridget O’Brien by Maggie’s Wake. A Canadian band that plays original songs that sound traditional. We finished with Hobbit Drinking Songs by Colm R. McGuinness. The lyrics come straight from The Lord of the Rings. That makes me happy.
Dar Williams has a new album out, Hummingbird Highway. I have already played a few advance singles. We love Dar’s songwriting but she’s also a great performer. We are going to hear her cover one of my favorites, Richard Thompson’s I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight. That’s so different from her usual fare but Dar pulls it off.
Dar Williams – I Want to See The Bright Lights Tonight
Jory Nash – The Light Still Shines On the Moon
Tanya Ransom – Look to the Sky
Splendid Torch – Double Backflip
Gord’s Gold 5: After I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight, we heard The Light Still Shines on the Moon by yet another Canadian Jory Nash. When I met Jory at NERFA, a folk music conference, He saw my name tag, Gordon Nash, and came up to me, gave me a big hug, and called me “Cousin Gordon! I was delighted to find out that he wasn’t just a kindred spirit but a great singer songwriter. Don’t look down, we then heard Look To the Sky by Tanya Ransom. She’s from Northwest Australia but has moved to the Southwest. I love Aussies. We finished with Double Backflip by the New England based Splendid Torch.
This show as a journey of discovery for me, I first heard nine of the artists in the last month. To find nine artists I love I must listen to 90 that are at best mediocre. I do it so you don’t have to. Till next week, go out to hear live music and support the artists you love.
Wise Madness 