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John Gorka

John Gorka is perhaps the quintessential iconic singer/songwriter of the 1980s folk scene. Hailing from New Jersey, he honed his craft and persona as a shy, wry and insightful singer/songwriter in the Greenwich Village Fast Folk and Boston music scenes. Gorka got his start at Godfrey Daniels, a neighborhood coffeehouse in eastern Pennsylvania, which is one of the oldest and most venerable music institutions in the country. After releasing his first album with Minnesota-based Red House Records in 1987, he recorded five albums with Windham Hills Will Ackermans High Street Records between 1989 and 1996. Since then he has released seven more solo albums on Red House, plus one with label-mates Lucy Kaplansky and Eliza Gilkyson under the name Red Horse. He continues to tour, playing festivals, theaters and clubs all over North America and Europe. Rolling Stone magazine calls him the leading singer-songwriter of the New Folk Movement.

Many well known artists have recorded and/or performed John Gorka songs, including Mary Chapin Carpenter, Nanci Griffith, Mary Black and Maura OConnell. John has graced the stage of Austin City Limits, Mountain Stage and etown, and has appeared on CNN. His song Where No Monuments Stand is featured in the documentary Every War Has Two Losers, about activist and Oregon Poet Laureate William Stafford.