So Dark You See is the eleventh studio album by folk singer-songwriter John Gorka, released on October 13, 2009. The album offers eight new examples of Gorka's own lyrical songwriting, two instrumental tracks, poetry of Robert Burns and William Stafford performed and set to music by Gorka, covers of songs by fellow folk musicians, Utah Phillips and Michael Smith, and Gorka's take on the blues standard, "Trouble in Mind".
| So Dark You See | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 13, 2009 | |||
| Genre | Folk, singer-songwriter | |||
| Label | Blue chalk/Red House | |||
| Producer | Rob Genadek and John Gorka | |||
| John Gorka chronology | ||||
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History
editThis was Gorka's eleventh studio album release in a career that has spanned over two decades. The album held the top position on the Folk Radio airplay chart for the months of September and October 2009.[1] Folk Alley named "Ignorance & Privilege" as No. 6 on their list of The Top 10 Folk Songs of 2009.[2]
Reception and commentary
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Acoustic Guitar | favorable[3] |
| Curator | favorable[4] |
| Flying Shoes | favorable[5] |
| The Gazette | favorable[6] |
| MusicMatters | favorable[7] |
| PopMatters | 6/10[8] |
| Washington Post | favorable[9] |
| Rob Williams | favorable[10] |
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Musicians | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "A Fond Kiss" | Robert Burns | John Gorka | * John Gorka (vocal, guitar, harmonium, V-Station) | 3:37 |
| 2. | "Whole Wide World" | John Gorka | John Gorka | * John Gorka (vocal, acoustic guitar, percussion)
| 2:54 |
| 3. | "Can't Get Over It" | John Gorka | John Gorka | * John Gorka (vocal, acoustic guitar)
| 3:32 |
| 4. | "Fret One" | [instrumental] | John Gorka | * John Gorka (acoustic guitar)
| 2:10 |
| 5. | "Ignorance & Privilege" | John Gorka | John Gorka | * John Gorka (vocal, acoustic guitar)
| 4:22 |
| 6. | "Utah" | (The track is Utah Phillips' recorded voice, stating a wish hear Gorka perform one of his songs.) | 0:07 | ||
| 7. | "I Think of You" | Utah Phillips | Utah Phillips | * John Gorka (vocal, acoustic guitar)
| 3:36 |
| 8. | "Where No Monument Stands" | William Stafford | John Gorka | * John Gorka (vocal, acoustic guitar)
| 2:23 |
| 9. | "Night into Day" | John Gorka | John Gorka | * John Gorka (vocal, acoustic guitar)
| 3:44 |
| 10. | "Fret Not" | [instrumental] | John Gorka | * John Gorka (fretless tackhead banjo) | 1:20 |
| 11. | "Live by the Sword" | John Gorka | John Gorka | * John Gorka (vocal, keyboards, acoustic guitar)
| 2:14 |
| 12. | "Trouble in Mind" | Richard M. Jones | Richard M. Jones | * John Gorka (vocal, acoustic guitar) | 3:02 |
| 13. | "The Dutchman" | Michael Smith | * John Gorka (vocal, acoustic guitar) | 4:48 | |
| 14. | "Mr. Chambers" | John Gorka | John Gorka | * John Gorka (vocal, acoustic guitar) | 2:58 |
| 15. | "That Was the Year" | John Gorka | John Gorka | * John Gorka (vocal, acoustic guitar) | 2:46 |
| 16. | "Diminishing Winds" | John Gorka | John Gorka | * John Gorka (vocal, guitar)
| 4:09 |
| 113. | Untitled | Michael Smith |
Personnel
editMusicians
- John Gorka — vocals, fretless banjo, guitar, harmonium, keyboards and percussion
- Marc Anderson — percussion
- Dan Chouinard – accordion
- Dick Freymuth – electric guitar
- Rob Genadek – Percussion
- Eliza Gilkyson — vocals
- Dean Magraw — electric and acoustic guitars
- Michael Manring — fretless bass
- Peter Ostroushko — fiddle and mandolin
- Joel Sayles – vocals, upright bass
- Enrique Toussaint – electric bass
- Jeff Victor – keyboards
Production
- Produced by Rob Genadek and John Gorka
- Engineering by Rob Genadek and John Gorka at The Brewhouse in Minneapolis, MN
- Lucy Kaplansky recorded by Mark Dann in New York City
Artwork
- Front cover painting, "Clairmont near Ascutney" by Tom Pirozzoli[11]
- Back cover photography by Jos Van Vliet
- Art direction and design by Jon Reischl
Chart performance
edit| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Folk Radio Top Albums[1] | 1 |
| Americana Radio Albums[12] | 44 |
References
edit- ^ a b Richard Gillmann, Top Folk Albums, Songs, Artists and Labels of October 2009[permanent dead link], Top Folk Albums, Songs, Artists and Labels of November 2009, compiled from playlists submitted to Folk DJ-L
- ^ Jim Blum, The Top 10 Folk Songs Of 2009, From Folk Alley, NPR, December 10, 2009
- ^ a b Mike Thomas, John Gorka, So Dark You See Archived December 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Acoustic Guitar, January 2010
- ^ a b Ed Eubanks, So Dark You See: The Music of John Gorka, Curator Magazine, April 2, 2010
- ^ a b Maurice Hope, John Gorka—So Dark You See, Flying Shoes Review, December 31, 2009
- ^ a b Diana Nollen, CD REVIEW: Gorka kicks up fine dust along life’s winding paths Archived November 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, The Gazette/Source Media Group, UPDATED: March 20, 2010
- ^ a b Michael Devlin, Review: John Gorka—So Dark You See, MusicMaters Review, 27
- ^ a b Richard Elliott, John Gorka: So Dark You See, PopMatters, December 11, 2009
- ^ a b Catherine P. Lewis, CD review: John Gorka's So Dark You see, Washington Post, February 26, 2010
- ^ a b Rob Williams, John Gorka’s SO DARK YOU CAN SEE (Music Review) [sic], Rob Williams Media, May 9, 2010
- ^ "Tom Pirozzoli – Art & Music". Pirozzoli.com. Retrieved March 10, 2012.
- ^ Archive Playlist for week of Monday, December 07, 2009, Americana Music Association