John Gorka
John Gorka at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, 2004
Background information
Born	(1958-07-27)July 27, 1958 (age 66) Colonia, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres	Folk
Occupation(s)	Songwriter, musician
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitars, piano
Years active	1980s–present
Labels	Windham Hill,High Street,Red House
Website	www.johngorka.com

John Gorka (born July 27, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter.^[1] In 1991,Rolling Stone magazine called him "the preeminent male singer-songwriter of what has been dubbed the New Folk Movement."^[2]

Gorka was raised in theColonia section ofWoodbridge Township, New Jersey, where he attendedColonia High School.^[3]

He studied philosophy and history atMoravian College inBethlehem, Pennsylvania and graduated from there in 1980.^[4]

As of 2005, he was residing in theSt. Croix Valley area nearSaint Paul, Minnesota.^{[citation needed]}

Gorka formed theRazzy Dazzy Spasm Band with Doug Anderson and Russ Rentler, which would also include guitaristRichard Shindell. After graduating from Moravian, he began performing solo atGodfrey Daniels coffee house in South Bethlehem as the opening act for various musicians includingNanci Griffith,Bill Morrissey,Claudia Schmidt andJack Hardy. In 1984, Gorka was one of six winners chosen from the finalists in the New Folk competition at theKerrville Folk Festival. Since then he has regularly toured Europe and North America.^[5][6][7]

In 1987, Gorka recorded his first album,I Know. It was released byRed House—beginning a long association with that label. Although his next five albums were distributed byWindham Hill andHigh Street, he returned to Red House with 1998'sAfter Yesterday and produced eight albums with them over the next twenty years—most recentlyTrue in Time (2018).^[8][9]

He has appeared with artists such asSuzanne Vega,Shawn Colvin,Michael Manring,Christine Lavin,Dave Van Ronk,Cliff Eberhardt,David Massengill,Frank Christian,Antje Duvekot,Meg Hutchinson, andLucy Kaplansky. He joined with Kaplansky andEliza Gilkyson to form the folksupergroupRed Horse in 2010, touring together and releasing a self-titled album on which they performed each other's compositions. Red Horse toured through July 2014.

• I Know (Red House, 1987)
• Land of the Bottom Line (Windham Hill/High Street, 1990)
• Jack's Crows (Windham Hill/High Street, 1991)
• Temporary Road (Windham Hill/High Street, 1992)
• Out of the Valley (Windham Hill/High Street, 1994)
• Between Five and Seven (Windham Hill/High Street, 1996)
• After Yesterday (Red House, 1998)
• The Company You Keep (Red House, 2001)
• Old Futures Gone (Red House, 2003)
• Writing in the Margins (Red House, 2006)
• So Dark You See (Red House, 2009)
• Red Horse (Red House, 2010)withLucy Kaplansky andEliza Gilkyson
• Bright Side Of Down (Red House, 2014)
• Before Beginning (The Unreleased I Know - Nashville, 1985) (Red House, 2016)
• True in Time (Red House, 2018)

Promotional EPs

• Motor Folkin' (Windham Hill/High Street, 1994)

Remix albums

• Before Beginning: The Unreleased I Know - Nashville, 1985 (Red House, 2016)^[10] (early version ofI Know)

DVD

• The Gypsy Life (AIX Records, 2007)

Compilation albums

• Pure John Gorka (Windham Hill, 2006)

On various artists compilations

• See various issues ofFast Folk Musical Magazine for early recordings.
• "I Saw a Stranger with Your Hair" onLegacy: A Collection of New Folk Music (Windham Hill, 1989)
• "Christmas Bells", onA Winter's Solstice, Vol. III (Windham Hill, 1990)
• "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" onA Tribute to Bob Dylan, Vol. 2 (SIS, 1994)
• "The Gypsy Life" onThe Live fromMountain Stage, Vol. 8 (Blue Plate, 1995)
• "Love is Our Cross to Bear" onKGSR Broadcasts Vol. 3 (KGSR, 1995)
• "The Water is Wide" onWhere Have All the Flowers Gone: The Songs of Pete Seeger (Wundertüte Musik, 1998)
• "Sweet Love" on "Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf" (Red House, 1998)
• "Bracero" onWhat's That I Hear?: The Songs of Phil Ochs (Sliced Bread, 1998)
• "Out of My Mind" onWhen October Goes : Autumn Love Songs (Philo, 1998)
• "Thirsty Boots" (Eric Andersen) onBleecker Street: Greenwich Village in the 1960s (Astor Place Records, 1999)
• "Girl from the North Country" onA Nod to Bob: An Artists' Tribute to Bob Dylan on His 60th Birthday (Red House, 2001)
• "Do La Lay", "Things We've Handed Down" and others onDown at the Sea Hotel (La Montagne Secrète, 2007)

• Official Website
• Red House Records Website
• John Gorka atAllMusic
• Extensive Dutch fansite
• AIX Records Website

• 1958 births
• Living people
• American people of Polish descent
• American baritones
• American folk guitarists
• American male guitarists
• American folk singers
• American male singer-songwriters
• Colonia High School alumni
• Fast Folk artists
• Singer-songwriters from New Jersey
• Singers from Newark, New Jersey
• People from Woodbridge Township, New Jersey
• Windham Hill Records artists
• Moravian University alumni
• Guitarists from New Jersey
• 20th-century American guitarists
• 20th-century American male musicians
• Red House Records artists
• Singer-songwriters from New York (state)

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• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from October 2015
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• Articles with unsourced statements from October 2022