John Gorka I've always loved. A gentlemanly figure with a calm demeanor, yet capable of delivering some of the most powerful songs ever performed at Summerfolk. Eliza Gilkyson whom I first saw showcasing at a music conference where she captured the entire room, creating an environment from which no one wanted to leave. Lucy Kaplansky whose work with the group Cry Cry Cry I have long admired.
Friends for many years, these three crossed paths on many occasions and have sung on each others' recordings. I am sure it was one of those crazy ideas musicians seem to have - "let's start a band".
“We’ll be doing a number of songs with each of us as the main singer" said Gorka of the collaboration. "I think Eliza was the one who probably suggested we do this."
"For the album, we each take the lead on 4 songs. I will sing a Lucy song, an Eliza song, the Stewart MacGregor song Coshieville plus a new one of mine. Lucy and Eliza will each be doing one of mine along with one of each other's songs and a song from outside of the group."
Lucy Kaplansky was asked how Red Horse differed from the Cry Cry Cry trio. "Well, it's a little bit different - it's a mix of originals and covers. Cry Cry Cry was virtually all other people's songs, and this one is more a mix of originals with each of us doing each other's songs, which I've never heard of anyone doing before."
The CD is in the works and will be released this summer. The artwork all ready to go - Texas singer/songwriter Tom Russell painted the cover picture.
Individually, each of these performers has achieved a high level of success and admiration in folk music circles. To see and hear them in action together as Red Horse will be an absolute delight.
Eliza Gilkyson
When you listen to Eliza Gilkyson, you are presented with a woman who is unafraid to lay her emotions on the table. Her lyrics are stories of love and loss, of political angst and a genuine concern for the planet. However the songs are not set in a plaintive, complaining tone. They are delivered with confidence and honesty, set in exquisite melodies that stay with you.
Gilkyson has become one of the most respected songwriters in roots, folk and Americana music. She has been inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame and recognized with 4 Folk Alliance Music Awards. Her 2004 release Land of Milk and Honey was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Contemporary Folk Album category.
Growing up in Los Angeles, Gilkyson first recorded demos and soundtracks produced by her father, songwriter Terry Gilkyson. He penned several hits in the 1950s and early 1960s including Green Fields, Marianne and The Bare Necessities. His song Memories Are Made of This was recorded by both Johnny Cash and Dean Martin.
But Eliza had to leave California to define her own path. She spent time in New Mexico and Europe before moving to Austin, which she has called home for more than two decades. She built a respectable fan base along the way and her career hit full stride in 2000 with the release of Hard Times in Babylon.
Gilkyson's Paradise Hotel CD is one of my personal favourite recordings. If you don't own a copy, consider it one for your collection...and it's not just me who likes it. The album received rave reviews from around the world.
Over the course of 15 albums, Eliza Gilkyson has built a reputation as one of the most original and influential folk artists of our time. The job of folksingers, she has said, "is to take a simple thing and elaborate on it until it becomes a jewel."
John Gorka
One of the oldest and most venerable music institutions in eastern Pennsylvania, 'Godfrey Daniels' is a small neighborhood coffeehouse and listening room. It has long been a hangout for music lovers and aspiring musicians. In the late 1970s, one of these was a young college student named John Gorka.
Though his academic course work lay in Philosophy and History, music began to offer enticements. Soon he found himself living in the club’s basement and acting as resident M.C. and soundman; encountering legendary folk troubadours like Stan Rogers, Eric Andersen, Tom Paxton and Claudia Schmidt. Their brand of folk-inspired acoustic music inspired him, and before long he was writing and performing his own songs.
Soon he started traveling to New York City, where the 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. His soulful baritone voice and emerging songwriting began turning heads. Those who had at one time inspired him - Suzanne Vega, Bill Morrissey, Nanci Griffith, Christine Lavin, Shawn Colvin - had become his peers.
His songwriting gained increasing attention from critics and audiences across North America, as well as in Europe. Rolling Stone magazine called him “the preeminent male singer/songwriter of the new folk movement”.
John Gorka's albums and touring (over 150 nights a year at times) continue to bring new accolades for his craft. His keen ear picks up the stories of those along his path, folding them into poetry and song. Few contemporary songwriters coax language as deftly as he.
With his low tenor voice, elegant melodies and restrained instrumental accompaniment, John Gorka's sound could be considered 'easy listening' music. Indeed, with a casual first time listen, his music can easily be dismissed as just that and nothing more (and I am not suggesting that there is anything wrong with that style of music). However upon more attentive listening, a major strength in Gorka's work is revealed. That strength lies in the lyrics. Low on clichés and high on originality, he artfully constructs songs that are beautifully well-crafted.
Lucy Kaplansky
It’s always nice to have options as a struggling musician, and Lucy Kaplansky has one of the best side gigs imaginable: She’s a clinical psychologist. Amazingly, the New York-based folk singer/songwriter has managed to balance and prioritize both disciplines across long careers in both fields.
Kaplansky’s journey began in 1978, when the Chicago native chose to skip college and then carved out a niche for herself in the Greenwich Village folk scene, where she met and worked with budding stars like Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Vega and Richard Shindell. But after five years, Kaplansky decided to pursue a psychology degree, although she maintained her music career while working toward her Ph.D. A 'big fork in the road' appeared when labels expressed interest in her duo work with Colvin. Kaplansky chose to follow her other career and opened a private practice, while Colvin got signed and made a fairly big splash in the mainstream.
Kaplansky focused on her psychology practice but eventually the allure of music proved too strong and she decided to return to her creative endeavors, recording her debut The Tide in 1994 assisted by Colvin, who produced the album. The CD garnered critical acclaim and rose quickly up the new Americana radio chart. Kaplansky found herself in high demand for touring and something had to give - it was the psychology career. She became a full-time musician and has never looked back.
In 1998 Kaplansky teamed with Dar Williams and Richard Shindell to form the folk supergroup Cry Cry Cry. Their album and subsequent tour, which was one of the highest grossing musical tours of the year, greatly enhanced the popularity of all three.
"There is no question that the Cry Cry Cry tour exposed me to a much larger audience." Kaplansky admits. "And the fact that it triggered new sales in our own records was a wonderful, added perk. The tour was really good for all of us, not just the artists whose songs we covered on the album."
Kaplansky’s voice continues to remain in high demand by her peers and her most recent release Over the Hills is a fine collection of songs. The album reflects on a new turn in her life. Motherhood has not hindered her musical life but enhanced it; deepening the emotional depth of her songwriting.
Lead singer Namgar Ayushievna Lhasaranova, from whom the band's name is taken, brought these songs from her Buryat family background. The Buryat tribes historically were supporters of Genghis Khan and important commanders of the Mongol Invasion. They live in the far reaches of what is now the Russian Federation where Buddhism, Shamanism and the natural beauty of South Siberia have contributed to their culture.
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