MICHAEL J. STAHL
John Gorka, performing at the Outpost in the Burbs in Montclair, on Dec. 1.
“It’s good to be among my people,” said New Jersey native John Gorka during his Dec. 1 concert at the Outpost in the Burbs in Montclair.
Gorka, who lives in Minnesota but grew up in Colonia, performed his wry “I’m From New Jersey” as part of the show. You can watch a video of that, as well as clips of him performing Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released” and his own songs “I Saw a Stranger With Your Hair” and “Ignorance and Privilege,” below.
In an interview previewing the show, Gorka said: “It’s true. I grew up in New Jersey, but moved to Pennsylvania to go to school – the Lehigh Valley – and stayed for almost 20 years. For the past 21 years, I’ve been in Minnesota, because I met my wife here. She’s from Minnesota. It seemed a good place to be, because it’s a pretty central place to tour around the country. But I’ll always be from New Jersey. And I sing that song just about every night.
“One reason is that, last year, I started taking a poll of each audience and asked how many had not seen me play live before. To be honest, I was surprised how many hands went up. So I have a couple of introductory stories and songs to make the new people feel included. And ‘I’m From New Jersey’ is the first of those, and is also the most effective introductory song.”
“I’m From New Jersey” was, of course, one of the selections in NJArts.net’s 350 Jersey Songs series, featuring songs by Jersey artists, or about New Jersey, or recorded in the state.
Thanks to Michael J. Stahl for the photo and to Gail Prusslin for posting the videos!
“I’M FROM NEW JERSEY”
“I SHALL BE RELEASED”
“I SAW A STRANGER WITH YOUR HAIR”
“IGNORANCE AND PRIVILEGE”
