Publication date: Nov 8, 2007
By Jonathan Copsey/ STAFF
�I�m from New Jersey. I don�t expect too much. If the world ended today, I would adjust.�
Those lyrics from �I�m from New Jersey� by folk artist John Gorka nicely sum up both his strange humor and lyrical talents. Even without seeing him perform, one can imagine a wide smile on his face as he sings.
Playing to a packed house at Ragamuffin Music last week, Gorka led the audience through two roller-coaster sets with raucous humor in between. His deep, throaty voice lends his songs a country flair, featuring nothing more than Gorka, a guitar and a piano.
�Thank you for clapping,� he said after finishing the Jersey song. �There are audiences who will not.�
Many of Gorka�s songs verged on the depressing. �Let Them In,� which he wrote after receiving a poem from a friend in the Philippines and setting it to music, has verses such as �God knows how young they were for them to die.�
�Houses in the Fields� had Gorka on the grand piano lamenting the urbanization of America that has transformed simple farming communities with roads and subdivisions. �There are houses in the fields and the last farms are growing out of here� Soon there will be children playing where the silos stood.�
The song could easily have been written about Roswell.
When he asked for requests, one guest asked for a �positive, fast, and old song.�
�That really narrows it down,� Gorka said with a laugh before launching into �Good,� which is basically a list of what he�s good at.
Despite the dark nature of many of the songs, their wide array of subjects underscore Gorka�s creativity. Songs such as �Flying Red Horse,� about what would happen if the Mobil gas station symbol came alive, and �Branching Out,� about what it would be like to be a tree, infuse his manic humor into his music.
Singer/songwriter Amelia K. Spicer opened for Gorka and sang backup vocals on several of his songs.
�Someone said I look like Britney Spears,� Spicer said with a laugh. �What do you say to that?� Spicer has blonde hair, but the similarities end there. Thankfully, she sounded nothing like Spears.
With a voice that could handle both hoarse and melodic tunes, Spicer began her set on the grand piano before moving to guitar, playing songs that conjure beauty and sorrow.
�Like an Engine,� the title track from her debut album, is full of haunting imagery. Sounding much like a lament to a lost lover, Spicer�s whispering vocals played over the sorrowful notes of the piano.
�You�re like an engine, just like an engine. Some parts are fire, some cold as stone.�
Spicer�s songs have a certain film-like quality to them, sounding at times more like soundtracks than individual ballads. This came from Spicer�s longtime dream of being a film director.
�I went to LA to direct films� but wrote some songs and people liked it,� she said.
Appropriately, many of her songs have been used in feature films.
The concert at Ragamuffin was its biggest to date, with the small venue flying in the two artists � Gorka from Wisconsin, Spicer from Los Angeles.
The audience loved them both, and the musicians mingled long after the show, on a wonderful night for Ragamuffin Music, and for Northside music lovers.
For more information on Ragamuffin Music events, visit www.ragamuffinmusic.com.
