Fourth Friday: James Gordon
James Gordon returns to Fourth Friday with Hometown Tunes, celebrating small towns across Ontario. Years ago, as songwriter-in-residence at CBC radio, Gordon created a music series for the Ontario Morning program. CBC listeners would write letters about something they considered ‘song-worthy’ from their towns – an historic incident, a local character, a current event. Gordon would pick a letter each week, write a song about the topic suggested, and perform it live on the air in Toronto, usually at 7:30 a.m., after driving in from his hometown of Guelph. Gordon will revisit these tunes as we take a tour around Ontario from the comfort of Guelph Civic Museum.
Admission by donation starts at 5 p.m. with the concert beginning at 7 p.m. Cash bar available.
About the Artist
James Gordon has had a remarkably diverse and resilient career in the Canadian cultural sector. As a solo singer-songwriter and with the ground-breaking trio Tamarack, he’s recorded 42 albums and toured relentlessly around the world. For more than ten years he was a songwriter-in-residence for CBC radio, and his “Hometown Tunes” feature on Ontario Morning was the starting point for this presentation. Between tours, James is a record producer, playwright, community activist, theatre director, and he served two terms as a Guelph City Councillor.
His song ’Mining For Gold’ was featured in the John Sayles film ‘Silver City’ and was included on the classic Cowboy Junkies album ‘The Trinity Sessions’. Gordon’s iconic ‘Frobisher Bay’ has been recorded by more than 100 different acts world-wide. It’s become a standard in choirs everywhere, and is in ‘Rise Again’, the sequel to the legendary ‘Rise Up Singing’ songbook.
His newest album ‘Wrinkles and Scars” came out last year and his ‘musical novel’ ‘The Ark Of The Oven Mitt,’ was a finalist in the 2022 Stephen Leacock Humour Awards. Gordon had his first ‘viral hit’ with 300,000 views on YouTube and social media for his political commentary song about the ‘Freedom Convoy. He’s touring this year with his one-man ‘activist’ musical “Smashing the Oligarchy and Other Fun Pre-apocalyptic Activities.”
Jamesgordon.ca
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