James Gordon is a Canadian singer-songwriter, known as a founding member of Tamarack.[1] He has also released more than 20 solo albums.
James Gordon | |
|---|---|
.jpg) James Gordon performing at the Hillside Festival, which he co-founded in 1984. | |
| Occupation | singer-songwriter |
| Known for | Tamarack, "Frobisher Bay", Hillside Festival |
| Political party | Ontario New Democratic Party |
| Spouse | single |
| Children | Evan Gordon, Geordie Gordon |
| Website | http://www.jamesgordon.ca |
| Notes | |
Musical career
editAs a prolific songwriter, James Gordon is known for such diverse songs as "Sweaters for Penguins" and "Frobisher Bay".[2] He wrote the weekly song for the CBC Radio program Basic Black. He is proficient on a variety of instruments including guitar, piano, banjo and mandola.[3] His songs have been covered by other musical artists such as the Cowboy Junkies ("Mining for Gold") and Melanie Doane.[citation needed]
He has toured internationally in North America, the British Isles, Southeast Asia, and Cuba.[4]
He is a co-founder of Guelph's annual Hillside Festival and was its first creative director, from 1985 to 1988.[5][6] He also founded (and was the artistic director of) the Canadian Songwriters' Festival,[5] and was a board member of the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals. Gordon is active in arts-, civics-, and environment-related causes in the Guelph region, for which he was given the Guelph Mayor's Award in 2008.[5]
Politics
editProvincial
editHe was the candidate for the Ontario New Democratic Party in the riding of Guelph in the 2011 Ontario provincial election but lost to incumbent Liz Sandals.[7] He ran again in 2014 but once again lost to Liz Sandals.
Municipal
editJames Gordon declared his candidacy[8] for Ward Two City Councillor in the city of Guelph, Ontario in the 27 October 2014 Guelph municipal election. Gordon was elected to serve alongside Andy Van Hellemond and plans to continue his activist pursuits[9] such as touring his one-man show, "Stephen Harper: The Musical".[10] Gordon was re-elected in 2018 Ontario municipal elections. Gordon announced his retirement from municipal politics in June 2022.[11]
Discography
editTamarack
edit.jpg)
- Au Canada (1980)
- Wind River
- Spirit & Stone
- 13
- Fields of Rock and Snow (1993)
- Frobisher Bay (1993)
- Leaving Inverarden (1995)
- Blankets of Snow (1998)
Solo recordings
edit- Looking for Livingstone (1987)
- Farther Along (1991)
- Hometown Tunes (1994)
- Dim Lights, Small City (1995)
- More Hometown Tunes (1997)
- Pipe Street Dreams (1999)
- Mining for Gold: Twenty Years of Songwriting (2002)
- Tune Cooties (2002)
- One Timeless Moment (2003)
- Endomusia (2004), includes "Weapons of Mass Instruction"
- Nine Green Bottles (2007), includes "Casey Sheehan Didn't Die for Nothing", credited to James Gordon and Sons
- My Stars Your Eyes (2009)
- Coyote's Calling (2013), includes "Jack's Dream"
- “Sunny Jim” (2016) includes “This Canoe Runs on Water” & “I’m Just A Farmhouse” (SOCAN).
- “Heritage Hall Sessions” (2020)
- “Crybabies Caravan” viral single with 300,000 views 2022
- When I Stayed Home “(2022)
- “ Wrinkles and Scars” ( 2024 )
Folk operas (musicals)
edit.jpg)
James Gordon used to perform with David Archibald as "Jim and Dave", producing family-oriented musicals.
- Jim and Dave's Awesome Environmental Adventure (1990)
- Jim and Dave's Awesome Search for the Golden Toad (1992)
- Jim and Dave's Awesome Supernatural Camping Adventure (1993)
More recently, his work includes:
Cinema
edit- "Mining for Gold" on the soundtrack of the film Silver City (2004)[citation needed]
- Two Steps and a Glass of Water[citation needed]
Electoral record
edit| 2018 Guelph Municipal Election: Ward 2 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote | % |
| James Gordon (X) | 3,009 | 30.59 |
| Rodrigo Goller | 2,728 | 27.74 |
| Jonathan Knowles | 1,591 | 16.18 |
| Dorothe Fair | 1,341 | 13.63 |
| Mary Thring | 996 | 10.13 |
| Sudha Sharma | 170 | 1.73 |
| 2014 Guelph municipal election: Ward 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | % | Δ% | Expenditures[a] |
| Andy Van Hellemond (X) | 3,266 | 27.50 | -1.56 | $2,012.04[15] |
| James Gordon | 2,990 | 25.17 | – | $5,450.18[16] |
| Ray Ferraro | 2,615 | 22.02 | +0.80 | $2,458.07[17] |
| Martin Collier | 1,314 | 11.06 | – | $3,662.99[18] |
| Sian Matwey | 1,109 | 9.34 | – | none listed |
| Chris Keleher Sr. | 583 | 4.91 | – | $270.13[19] |
| Mark Paralovos (withdrawn)[b] | – | – | – | $100.00[20] |
| Total valid votes/Expense Limit | 11,877 | 100.0 | $16,446.10 | |
| Turnout | 6,846 | 48.50 | ||
| Eligible voters | 14,116 | |||
| Sources: 2014 Official Election Results, City of Guelph, 2014 Election – Ward 2, City of Guelph, and Voter Statistics, City of Guelph | ||||
| 2014 Ontario general election: Guelph | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Liz Sandals | 22,014 | 41.52 | -0.91 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Anthony MacDonald | 11,048 | 20.84 | -4.76 | ||||
| Green | Mike Schreiner | 10,230 | 19.29 | +12.36 | ||||
| New Democratic | James Gordon | 9,385 | 17.70 | -6.18 | ||||
| Communist | Juanita Burnett | 178 | 0.34 | +0.04 | ||||
| Libertarian | Blair Smythe | 170 | 0.32 | -0.33 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 53,025 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +1.92 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[21] | ||||||||
| 2011 Ontario general election: Guelph | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Liz Sandals | 19,815 | 42.43 | +1.68 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Greg Schirk | 11,954 | 25.60 | +0.86 | ||||
| New Democratic | James Gordon | 11,150 | 23.88 | +10.03 | ||||
| Green | Steve Dyck | 3,234 | 6.93 | -12.52 | ||||
| Libertarian | Philip Bender | 305 | 0.65 | |||||
| Communist | Drew Garvie | 139 | 0.30 | -0.1 | ||||
| Independent | Julian Ichim | 100 | 0.21 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 46,697 | 99.56 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 206 | 0.44 | ||||||
| Turnout | 46,903 | 50.27 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 93,308 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +0.41 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[22] | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ Fink, Matt. "Mining For Gold: Twenty Years of Song Writing". acousticmusic.com. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
- ^ Varano, Lisa. "James Gordon". Guelph Mercury. Retrieved 19 February 2008.[dead link]
- ^ bio at allmusic.com retrieved 1 June 2010.
- ^ "James Gordon". abetterworld.ca. Retrieved 20 January 2008. [dead link]
- ^ a b c "James Gordon, 2008 Mayor's Award Recipient". Guelph.ca. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
- ^ "James Gordon and Sons". Hillside Festival. Retrieved 21 May 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Wheeler withdraws from NDP race, Gordon remains". Guelph Mercury. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
- ^ "Guelph Politico: James Gordon to Give Municipal Politics a Try". guelphpolitico.blogspot.ca. 27 August 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ "Guelph councillor-elect James Gordon vows to remain an activist". guelphmercury.com. 31 October 2014. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ "Little Shop of Harpers: Musical satire, Stephen Harper: The Musical, comes to the Arts Project – the Gazette". Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
- ^ "James Gordon stepping away from municipal politics". Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ "Healing and Recovery Through the Arts International Conference". Retrieved 21 February 2008.
- ^ Van Wagner, Danielle. "Tryst and Snout (2007)". Retrieved 19 February 2008.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 February 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Financial Statement: Andy Van Hellemond. City of Guelph.
- ^ Financial Statement: James Gordon. City of Guelph.
- ^ Financial Statement: Ray Ferraro. City of Guelph.
- ^ Financial Statement: Martin Collier. City of Guelph.
- ^ Financial Statement: Chris Keleher Sr. City of Guelph.
- ^ Financial Statement: Mark Paralovos. City of Guelph.
- ^ Elections Ontario. "General Election Results by District, 027 Guelph". Archived from the original on 14 June 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
- ^ Elections Ontario (2011). "Official return from the records / Rapport des registres officiels – Guelph" (PDF). Retrieved 2 June 2014.[permanent dead link]