Fifteen albums in, singer/songwriter
John Gorka is still ambling down the road that emerged in the '80s when he was part of the "fast folk" generation. That said, the artist diverged from its strictures and carved out his own stubborn path through the weeds of both folk and Americana with a stubborn work ethic, recording only when he has something new to say, and relentlessly following his own idiosyncratic vision.
While unmistakably
Gorka,
True in Time is an outlier in his catalog: It is the first of his recordings to feature all his strengths on a single disc. He cut this live in the studio over a couple of days with all the musicians playing in the same room in close proximity -- they either improvised their parts on the spot or after receiving demos. The result is a lively, immediate listening experience. There are wry, poignant, and intimate reflections of everyday life side by side with deft storytelling and smoking guitar playing. The title track was inspired by the occasion of actresses Carrie Fisher and her mother
Debbie Reynolds dying within a day of one another, and how time and song fulfill each another's purposes. An acoustic number (with its reprise at the end as a bookend) asks an eternal yet circular question that arises in the aftermath of grief and absence. The country chug (complete with Joe Savage's pedal steel whine) of "Nazarene Guitar" reflects surroundings, autobiography, friends, and states of the heart even as the tempo moves with a freight train's steady roll, making it the most uptempo jaunt on the set. Other highlights include "Mennonite Girl," a broken love song right out of great folk music storytelling tradition. The atmospheric "Arroyo Seco" has overtones of nostalgia and recollection, but among the interplay of guitars, the inspiration of a long-gone era reveals itself as a personal but eternal truth. There are three older songs here that have been played live but not recorded until now. Two of them, "Blues with a Rising Sun" (a song about
Son House) and "Red Eye & Roses" were considered lost until a fan sent
Gorka a tape of the former and folksinger
Anne Hills provided him with a tape of the latter. The overly silly "The Body Parts Medley" has long been a revolving part of
Gorka's live set, but truth be told, it could have been left off this record without consequence. That stumble aside, this is
Gorka at his most inspired. The lyrical content in these songs refreshingly offers a little less surety, a bit more vulnerability, and a few more questions. They are all wrapped in organic charts and honest, committed playing, making
True in Time a fan's delight. ~ Thom Jurek