Kick off Labor Day weekend as Newport Live and the Norman Bird Sanctuary present award winner John Gorka at The Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown on Thursday, August 31st at 7 PM. General Admission tickets are $35 and available through EventBrite and via Newport Live or Norman Bird Sanctuary websites. Celebrate summer with Newport Live and enjoy live music under the stars at The Norman Bird Sanctuary.
More on John Gorka
John Gorka is a world-renowned singer-songwriter who got his start at a neighborhood coffeehouse in eastern Pennsylvania – Godfrey Daniels – one of the oldest music institutions and a hangout for aspiring musicians. He found himself acting as resident MC and sound man, encountering legendary folk troubadours like Canadian singer-songwriter Stan Rogers, Eric Andersen, Tom Paxton and Claudia Schmidt. Soon he started traveling to New York City, where Jack Hardy’s legendary Fast Folk circle became a powerful source of education and encouragement. Folk meccas like Texas’ Kerrville Folk Festival (where he won the New Folk Award in 1984) and Boston followed, and his stunningly soulful baritone voice and original songwriting began turning heads.
Red House Records caught wind of John’s talents and released his first album, I Know, to popular and critical acclaim. With unusual drive and focus, John hit the ground running and, when an offer came from Windham Hill’s Will Ackerman in 1989, he signed with that label’s High Street Records. He proceeded to record five albums with High Street over the next seven years: Land of the Bottom Line, Jack’s Crows, Temporary Road, Out of the Valley and Between Five and Seven. He also started sharing tours with many notable friends—Nanci Griffith and Mary Chapin Carpenter among them. His video for the single “When She Kisses Me” found a long-term rotation on VH-1’s “Current Country,” as well as on CMT and the Nashville Network.
In 1998, John decided to return to his musical roots at Red House Records. His release The Company You Keep held fast to his tradition of fine songwriting, yet moved forward down new avenues. Ani DiFranco, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lucy Kaplansky and Patty Larkin contributed stellar guitar work and vocals to this fan favorite. Writing in the Margins followed in 2006 and featured guest vocalists Nanci Griffith, Lucy Kaplansky and Alice Peacock. Many well-known artists have recorded and/or performed John Gorka songs, including Mary Chapin Carpenter, Nanci Griffith, Mary Black and Maura O’Connell.
Windham Hill also released a collection of John’s greatest hits from the label called Pure John Gorka. In 2010, he also released an album with his friends and Red House label-mates Lucy Kaplansky and Eliza Gilkyson under the name Red Horse. It landed on the Billboard Folk Charts and was one of the most-played albums on folk radio.
John has graced the stage of Austin City Limits, Mountain Stage, etown and has appeared on CNN. His new song “Where No Monuments Stand” is featured in the upcoming documentary Every War Has Two Losers, about activist and Oregon Poet Laureate William Stafford.
Now with this, his 11th studio album, he returns to his roots with So Dark You See, his most compelling and traditional album to date.