You could say that John Gorka started in the basement and worked his way up. When he was a college student in eastern Pennsylvania in the late 1970s, John was so taken by the folk scene at the Godfrey Daniels coffeehouse, he became its resident (as in: on-staff and living in the basement) M.C. and soundman. After a while, he began opening the evenings with his own songs. He performed in New York with the Fast Folk Musical Magazine crowd and in Boston, and took home the New Folk Award from the Kerrville Folk Festival in 1984. The friends he made at Godfrey Daniels — Nanci Griffith, Bill Morrissey, Claudia Schmidt and Jack Hardy — opened doors for him all across the country.
       While making a name for himself among the folk cognoscenti as “the intense white guy from New Jersey,” John was holding down a day job as a flower deliveryman, then spent two and a half years at Sing Out! Magazine. In 1986 he started performing full-time; in 1987, he released his first album, “I Know.” This helped establish him as a touring artist, and the next six records spread fame and fans further. John’s last two albums, “After Yesterday” (1998) and “The Company You Keep” (2001), contain topical songs but also show a more personal side, reflecting the joys of fatherhood.
       John has always been a favorite at the me&thee and we are happy to welcome him back. See you there.