James Gordon (Canadian musician)

James Gordon

James Gordon performing at the Hillside Festival, which he co-founded in 1984.
Residence Guelph, Ontario
Occupation singer-songwriter
Known for Tamarack, "Frobisher Bay", Hillside Festival
Spouse(s) Val Morse
Children Evan Gordon, Geordie Gordon
Website http://www.jamesgordon.ca
Notes
Folk Era Records

James Gordon is a Canadian singer-songwriter, known as a founding member of Tamarack.[1] He has also released more than 20 solo albums.

Musical career

As 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]

He has toured internationally in North America, the British Isles, Southeast Asia, and Cuba.[4]

His songs have been covered by other musical artists such as the Cowboy Junkies ("Mining for Gold") and Melanie Doane.

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

Provincial

He 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

James Gordon threw his hat in the ring[8] for Ward Two City Councillor in the city of Guelph, Ontario in the October 27, 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]

Discography

Tamarack

James Gordon performing at Hillside Festival in 2008. His sons, Evan and Geordie, are behind him.

Solo recordings

Folk operas (musicals)

James Gordon performing at Hillside Festival in 2008.

James Gordon used to perform with David Archibald as "Jane & Dave", producing family-oriented musicals.

More recently, his work includes:

Cinema

References

  1. Fink, Matt. "Mining For Gold: Twenty Years of Song Writing". acousticmusic.com. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
  2. Varano, Lisa. "James Gordon" Check |url= value (help). Guelph Mercury. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
  3. bio at allmusic.com retrieved 1 June 2010.
  4. "James Gordon". abetterworld.ca. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
  5. 1 2 3 "James Gordon, 2008 Mayor's Award Recipient". Guelph.ca. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  6. "James Gordon and Sons". Hillside Festival. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  7. "Wheeler withdraws from NDP race, Gordon remains". Guelph Mercury. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  8. "Guelph Politico: James Gordon to Give Municipal Politics a Try". guelphpolitico.blogspot.ca. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  9. "Guelph councillor-elect James Gordon vows to remain an activist". guelphmercury.com. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  10. http://www.westerngazette.ca/2014/11/26/little-shop-harpers-musical-satire-stephen-harper-musical-comes-arts-project/
  11. "Healing and Recovery Through the Arts International Conference". Retrieved 21 February 2008.
  12. Van Wagner, Danielle. "Tryst and Snout (2007)". Retrieved 19 February 2008.
  13. http://jamesgordon.ca/newsletter.html
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