James Gordon (Canadian musician)

James Gordon is a Canadian singer-songwriter, known as a founding member of Tamarack.[1] He has also released more than 20 solo albums.

James Gordon
James Gordon performing at the Hillside Festival, which he co-founded in 1984.
Occupationsinger-songwriter
Known forTamarack, "Frobisher Bay", Hillside Festival
Political partyOntario New Democratic Party
SpouseVal Morse
ChildrenEvan Gordon, Geordie Gordon
Websitehttp://www.jamesgordon.ca
Notes
Folk Era Records

Musical career

As a prolific songwriter, James Gordon is known for such diverse songs as "Sweaters for Penguins" and "Frobisher Bay".[2] He wrote the weekly song for the CBC Radio program Basic Black. He is proficient on a variety of instruments including guitar, piano, banjo and mandola.[3] His songs have been covered by other musical artists such as the Cowboy Junkies ("Mining for Gold") and Melanie Doane.

He has toured internationally in North America, the British Isles, Southeast Asia, and Cuba.[4]

He is a co-founder of Guelph's annual Hillside Festival and was its first creative director, from 1985 to 1988.[5][6] He also founded (and was the artistic director of) the Canadian Songwriters' Festival,[5] and was a board member of the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals. Gordon is active in arts-, civics-, and environment-related causes in the Guelph region, for which he was given the Guelph Mayor's Award in 2008.[5]

Politics

Provincial

He was the candidate for the Ontario New Democratic Party in the riding of Guelph in the 2011 Ontario provincial election but lost to incumbent Liz Sandals.[7] He ran again in 2014 but once again lost to Liz Sandals.

Municipal

James Gordon declared his candidacy[8] for Ward Two City Councillor in the city of Guelph, Ontario in the 27 October 2014 Guelph municipal election. Gordon was elected to serve alongside Andy Van Hellemond and plans to continue his activist pursuits[9] such as touring his one-man show, "Stephen Harper: The Musical".[10] Gordon was re-elected in 2018 Ontario municipal elections. Gordon announced his retirement from municipal politics in June 2022.[11]

Discography

Tamarack
James Gordon performing at Hillside Festival in 2008. His sons, Evan and Geordie, are behind him.
  • Au Canada (1980)
  • Wind River
  • Spirit & Stone
  • 13
  • Fields of Rock and Snow (1993)
  • Frobisher Bay (1993)
  • Leaving Inverarden (1995)
  • Blankets of Snow (1998)

Solo recordings
  • Looking for Livingstone (1987)
  • Farther Along (1991)
  • Hometown Tunes (1994)
  • Dim Lights, Small City (1995)
  • More Hometown Tunes (1997)
  • Pipe Street Dreams (1999)
  • Mining for Gold: Twenty Years of Songwriting (2002)
  • Tune Cooties (2002)
  • One Timeless Moment (2003)
  • Endomusia (2004), includes "Weapons of Mass Instruction"
  • Nine Green Bottles (2007), includes "Casey Sheehan Didn't Die for Nothing", credited to James Gordon and Sons
  • My Stars Your Eyes (2009)
  • Coyote's Calling (2013), includes "Jack's Dream"
  • “Sunny Jim” (2016) includes “This Canoe Runs on Water” & “I’m Just A Farmhouse” (SOCAN).

Folk operas (musicals)
James Gordon performing at Hillside Festival in 2008.

James Gordon used to perform with David Archibald as "Jim and Dave", producing family-oriented musicals.

  • Jim and Dave's Awesome Environmental Adventure (1990)
  • Jim and Dave's Awesome Search for the Golden Toad (1992)
  • Jim and Dave's Awesome Supernatural Camping Adventure (1993)

More recently, his work includes:

  • Hardscrabble Road (2003)
  • Two Steps and a Glass of Water (2005), which deals with mental illness and health, also a film by Glenn Curtis [12]
  • Tryst and Snout (2007)[13]
  • Stephen Harper: The Musical (2013)[14]

Cinema
  • "Mining for Gold" on the soundtrack of the film Silver City (2004)
  • Two Steps and a Glass of Water

Electoral record
2018 Guelph Municipal Election: Ward 2
Candidate Vote  %
James Gordon (X)3,00930.59
Rodrigo Goller2,72827.74
Jonathan Knowles1,59116.18
Dorothe Fair1,34113.63
Mary Thring99610.13
Sudha Sharma1701.73
2014 Guelph Municipal Election: Ward 2
CandidateVotes %Δ%Expenditures[lower-alpha 1]
Andy Van Hellemond (X)3,26627.50-1.56$2,012.04[15]
James Gordon2,99025.17–$5,450.18[16]
Ray Ferraro2,61522.02+0.80$2,458.07[17]
Martin Collier1,31411.06–$3,662.99[18]
Sian Matwey1,1099.34–none listed
Chris Keleher Sr.5834.91–$270.13[19]
Mark Paralovos (withdrawn)[lower-alpha 2]–––$100.00[20]
Total valid votes/Expense Limit11,877100.0   $16,446.10
Turnout6,84648.50
Eligible voters14,116
Sources: 2014 Official Election Results, City of Guelph, 2014 Election - Ward 2, City of Guelph, and Voter Statistics, City of Guelph
  1. includes expenses not subject to spending limit
  2. withdrew nomination September 4
2014 Ontario general election: Guelph
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalLiz Sandals22,01441.52-0.91
Progressive ConservativeAnthony MacDonald11,04820.84-4.76
GreenMike Schreiner10,23019.29+12.36
New DemocraticJames Gordon9,38517.70-6.18
CommunistJuanita Burnett1780.34+0.04
LibertarianBlair Smythe1700.32-0.33
Total valid votes 53,025100.00
Liberal hold Swing +1.92
Source: Elections Ontario[21]
2011 Ontario general election: Guelph
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalLiz Sandals19,81542.43+1.68
Progressive ConservativeGreg Schirk11,95425.60+0.86
New DemocraticJames Gordon11,15023.88+10.03
GreenSteve Dyck3,2346.93-12.52
LibertarianPhilip Bender3050.65 
CommunistDrew Garvie1390.30-0.1
IndependentJulian Ichim1000.21 
Total valid votes 46,697 99.56
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 2060.44
Turnout 46,90350.27
Eligible voters 93,308
Liberal hold Swing +0.41
Source: Elections Ontario[22]

References
  1. Fink, Matt. "Mining For Gold: Twenty Years of Song Writing". acousticmusic.com. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
  2. Varano, Lisa. "James Gordon". Guelph Mercury. Retrieved 19 February 2008.
  3. bio at allmusic.com retrieved 1 June 2010.
  4. "James Gordon". abetterworld.ca. Retrieved 20 January 2008.
  5. "James Gordon, 2008 Mayor's Award Recipient". Guelph.ca. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  6. "James Gordon and Sons". Hillside Festival. Retrieved 21 May 2009.
  7. "Wheeler withdraws from NDP race, Gordon remains". Guelph Mercury. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
  8. "Guelph Politico: James Gordon to Give Municipal Politics a Try". guelphpolitico.blogspot.ca. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  9. "Guelph councillor-elect James Gordon vows to remain an activist". guelphmercury.com. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  10. "Little Shop of Harpers: Musical satire, Stephen Harper: The Musical, comes to the Arts Project - the Gazette". Archived from the original on 24 February 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
  11. "James Gordon stepping away from municipal politics". Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  12. "Healing and Recovery Through the Arts International Conference". Retrieved 21 February 2008.
  13. Van Wagner, Danielle. "Tryst and Snout (2007)". Retrieved 19 February 2008.
  14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 February 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. Financial Statement: Andy Van Hellemond. City of Guelph.
  16. Financial Statement: James Gordon. City of Guelph.
  17. Financial Statement: Ray Ferraro. City of Guelph.
  18. Financial Statement: Martin Collier. City of Guelph.
  19. Financial Statement: Chris Keleher Sr. City of Guelph.
  20. Financial Statement: Mark Paralovos. City of Guelph.
  21. Elections Ontario. "General Election Results by District, 027 Guelph". Archived from the original on 14 June 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  22. Elections Ontario (2011). "Official return from the records / Rapport des registres officiels - Guelph" (PDF). Retrieved 2 June 2014.
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