Singer-songwriter stays connected to Iowa roots

By Michael Swanger michael@dmcityview.com

The last thing you expect to roll off Kevin Gordon's silver tongue is a clichŽ - even if he means it. After all, the East Nashville singer-songwriter-guitarist spent some time at the Iowa Writer's Workshop and has written and recorded some of the most meaningful songs of the No Depression era. But he's sincere when he says his new album due in September, "O' Come Looking at the Burning," the long-awaited follow-up to 2000's "Down to the Well," is his best to date.

"Everybody says that about a new album, but for me it's true," he says. "I think we made a good record."

"We" includes two of Gordon's longtime cohorts - Joe McMahon and Bo Ramsey - both of whom played guitar on 1998's "Cadillac Jack's #1 Son" and "Down to the Well," and shared producer credits with Gordon on the latter. Those albums, released on Shanachie Records, are loaded with soulful songs that drip with rich imagery and gutsy instrumentation - "Evan Pick Up the Line," "Time for the Sun to Rise," "Deuce and a Quarter" and "Jimmy Reed is the King of Rock 'n' Roll." Gordon says the new album has a vibe similar to the previous two, and he credits his old friends with helping him whip up a new batch of songs on a whim.

"This album came up on me pretty fast, so I called Joe in February and said 'Let's make a record,'" Gordon says. "He was caught off guard but sensed my urgency, and three weeks later we were banging it out. Fortunately, we were able to catch Bo while he was coming through town and it just fell together."

That sense of spontaneity, Gordon adds, is what sparks "O' Come Looking at the Burning" as the album's musicians set up in McMahon's living room and let the tape roll while they cut 10 originals and two covers (Eddie Hinton's "Something Heavy" and Willie Dixon's "Crazy Mixed Up World").

"It led to some good performances and an honest vocal delivery," Gordon says, adding that the tracking vocals and majority of guitar solos were used in favor of overdubs. "I liked the feel of the originals. They had so much honesty and immediacy."

Furthermore, Gordon recorded the sessions using analog gear, buying some of the last rolls of two-inch analog tape to be found on e-Bay shortly after it was announced the last maker of analog tape had gone out of business. "I was digging the idea of letting the tape roll," he says. "It has that warm analog sound."

Gordon will issue the album through Crowville Collective, a cooperative company he founded where lesser-known artists can release their work and maintain their masters. "I want to pick things from local musicians who fall through the cracks and let them make the record they want," he says, adding that Crowville Collective will also publish photographs and literature.

Though Gordon is a respected songwriter (his tunes have been recorded by the likes of Keith Richards, Levon Helm, Ronnie Hawkins and Kate Campbell), he is a part of the East Nashville music community that is often overshadowed by the trendy hat acts of Music Row. Now in his 12th year of residence in Nashville, he says Music City is a good place for him and his wife to raise their children, but not to play live music on a regular basis.

"I don't worry about the hometown thing because there's not a lot of enthusiasm coming back to you here," he says. "People are jaded and it's not the party town outsiders think it is. It's more of a bedroom community. I'd rather play Chicago or North Carolina where people are genuinely excited about what you do."

Gordon, a native of Monroe, La., who moved to Iowa City during the 1980s and played in Ramsey's band, says return trips to Iowa generate the same kind of enthusiasm he finds in the Windy City.

"We always have a good time there," he says. "People in Iowa have always been supportive and that's not lost on me."CV

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