I met John Gorka in 2002 after a concert in Newport, KY. For years, I had been listening to his smooth ballads, love songs, and sad songs on public radio, so I was excited to see him perform and to meet him.
Twenty-two years later, I met him again after his Wednesday evening performance at Chicago's City Winery.
Gorka's hair has turned gray in the twenty-two years between these shows. He looks frail and carries a cane, but his voice sounds the same. I heard the same rich baritone in 2024 as I did in 2002.
I was happy he played many songs from his earlier albums when he was a mainstay on my local stations. He opened with "I'm from New Jersey" off his 1991 album "Jack's Crows," a song that Gorka said embodied all the feelings of all his other songs. He also played four songs ("Branching Out," "Love is Our Cross to Bear," "I Saw a Stranger With Your Eyes," and the title track) from "I Know" - his very first album, released in 1987.
Listeners know John Gorka for the emotion he puts into his singing, and this emotion was on display in songs like "Let Them In" and "The Gypsy Life."
The singer told charming stories between songs and chatted casually with the audience. Before playing "Land of the Bottom Line," he explained that he wrote this song about a dark time in his life - a time when he had a job. After one lengthy story, he announced: "No more to say. This song is going to happen," and began playing. The 66-year-old singer/songwriter drew laughter when he picked up a half-size electric guitar and joked: "I'd like to play a little guitar for you." He told the story of meeting Pops Staples at a festival in England. Although Pops never recorded the song that Gorka sent him, he did inspire Gorka to write "Good Noise," which he performed tonight.
Although Gorka penned most of the songs he performed that night, he also treated us to a Nanci Griffith cover and a moving version of the traditional "Wayfaring Stranger."
John was alone on the stage with his guitar and piano for most of the evening. However, his son Joe Gorka joined him, providing a 30-minute solo warmup set, as well as two songs in which the pair performed together. Joe, who resides in Chicago, is a promising singer-songwriter in his own right, and the two share impressive chemistry on stage.
John Gorka never achieved the commercial success he deserved. The City Winery was less than half full on this weeknight. But he continues to perform and entertain and delight audiences.