Name: True In Time
Brand: Red House
SKU: 167233287
Price: 14.04 GBP
Availability: InStock

True In Time

Rating

Album: True In Time
#	Song Title		Time
1)	True in Time	More Info...
2)	Nazarene Guitar	More Info...
3)	Arroyo Seco	More Info...
4)	Tattooed	More Info...
5)	Mennonite Girl	More Info...
6)	Crowded Heart	More Info...
7)	Fallen for You	More Info...
8)	Cry for Help	More Info...
9)	The Body Parts Medley	More Info...
10)	Red Eye & Roses	More Info...
11)	Blues with a Rising Sun	More Info...
12)	The Ballad of Iris & Pearl	More Info...
13)	True in Time (Reprise)	More Info...
2)	Nazarene Guitar	More Info...
3)	Arroyo Seco	More Info...
4)	Tattooed	More Info...
5)	Mennonite Girl	More Info...
6)	Crowded Heart	More Info...
7)	Fallen for You	More Info...
8)	Cry for Help	More Info...
9)	The Body Parts Medley	More Info...
10)	Red Eye and Roses	More Info...
11)	Blues With a Rising Sun	More Info...
12)	The Ballad of Iris & Pearl	More Info...
13)	True in Time (Reprise)	More Info...

Album: True In Time
#	Song Title		Time
1)	True in Time	More Info...
2)	Nazarene Guitar	More Info...
3)	Arroyo Seco	More Info...
4)	Tattooed	More Info...
5)	Mennonite Girl	More Info...
6)	Crowded Heart	More Info...
7)	Fallen for You	More Info...
8)	Cry for Help	More Info...
9)	The Body Parts Medley	More Info...
10)	Red Eye & Roses	More Info...
11)	Blues with a Rising Sun	More Info...
12)	The Ballad of Iris & Pearl	More Info...
13)	True in Time (Reprise)	More Info...
2)	Nazarene Guitar	More Info...
3)	Arroyo Seco	More Info...
4)	Tattooed	More Info...
5)	Mennonite Girl	More Info...
6)	Crowded Heart	More Info...
7)	Fallen for You	More Info...
8)	Cry for Help	More Info...
9)	The Body Parts Medley	More Info...
10)	Red Eye and Roses	More Info...
11)	Blues With a Rising Sun	More Info...
12)	The Ballad of Iris & Pearl	More Info...
13)	True in Time (Reprise)	More Info...

Performer Notes

Personnel: Dirk Freymuth (electric guitar, baritone guitar); Joe Savage (steel guitar); Tommy Barbarella (keyboards); Enrique Toussaint (electric bass); J.T. Bates (drums).
Audio Mixer: Ron Genadek.
Liner Note Author: John Gorka.
Recording information: Howlin' Dog Recording, Alamosa, CO (07/31/2017-08/02/2017); Mark Dann Studios, NYC, NY (07/31/2017-08/02/2017); Studio 45, Austin, TX (07/31/2017-08/02/2017); Studio 5525, Edina, MN (07/31/2017-08/02/2017); The Brewhut, Minneapolis, MN (07/31/2017-08/02/2017); Uptown Sound Recording, Minneapolis, MN (07/31/2017-08/02/2017).
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