★★★★★
With 12 albums under his belt, John Gorka is no newcomer to the folk scene, but this is his first offering in four years, and well worth the wait. is everything a folk recording should be, with thoughtful lyrics nestled into well-crafted songs and simple arrangements that put the song first. Gorka's gentle storytelling is a series of snapshots of the everyday, interpreted, in "More than One" and "Don't Judge a Life," with the benefit of hindsight...
- exclaim.ca
2014-03-08
★★★★★
No text for this review; see http://robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-cg90/grades-90s.php.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
John Gorka's fifth album, Out of the Valley, may boast guests like Mary Chapin-Carpenter and Kathy Mattea, but the show is his all the way. Thoughnot a dynamic vocalist, this Pennsylvaniasinger-songwriter applies his witty wordplay ("The grapesthey go for wine/I did too until I tasted you") to both the somber("Bigtime Lonesome") and the silly (the circus romance "CarnivalKnowledge"). The result is a low-key set that recalls Dire Straits'light electric style and tugs an occasional heartstring. B+
- ew.com
2009-06-12
★★★★★
Just 'cause you're from North Jersey doesn't mean you have to grow up to be a hit manMafia or musical. You can also wind up as a sensitive guy, a guy with an acoustic guitar rather than a Springsteen Telecaster who will probably never write a "hit". You can grow up to be John Gorka.
Gorka is contemporary folk singer, a middle-aged man with a quality acoustic guitar and a penchant for sweet melody over finger-picked patterns, a singer with a casual baritone, a songwriter who's probably read...
- www.popmatters.com
2009-03-21
★★★★★
John Gorka is widely regarded as one of the leading male voices of the "new folk" movement. Gorka has a warm, world-weary baritone that draws the listener equally into the emotionally naked "The Gypsy Life" (great background vocals from Nanci Griffith) and the more objective narrative of "Vinny Charles is Free." He keeps one foot in the atmospheric Windham Hill camp, and one in protest-folk coffeehouses, emerging with the best of both influences on his strongest material.
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
The songwriting is particularly strong on this album. His ballad of the Marines and his father demonstrates how he can handle the most sentimental subjects well. "Silence," the first cut, is a crystalline beauty and "Where the Bottles Break" is a rockin' song about personal convictions and the real-estate business.
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
From the opening gospel-tinged track, "Good Noise," it is clear that John Gorka is pushing his music into new territory. After years in the Northeast, Gorka recorded Out of the Valley in Nashville with producer/guitarist John Jennings. The results are mixed. By recording in a professional studio, Gorka appeared to set his sights on breaking into the mainstream with a glossy production and upbeat songs designed to give him more airplay...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
With a warm baritone that exudes keen understanding, John Gorka explores the nature of many things on this album. On the very fine "Wisdom," the singer invests what most would consider a virtue with melancholy baggage: "Wisdom exists though it's not commonly found/It's got the lonesomest howl of any dog in the pound." As with his other fine releases, Gorka gently wends his way through insight after insight, with spare production and an easy confidence...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
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