One of the more curious aspects of the artistic temperament is that the more you accomplish, the more you strive for. Case in point: Canadian folk legend James Gordon, who after a whopping 42 albums and successes in multiple other avenues of creative and civic life is still looking for “Leonard’s Secret Chord”—which is not only a metaphor for the elusiveness of the proverbial muse, but the title of his new single to boot. Check it out on YouTube here:

And yes, that title is indeed a Leonard Cohen reference. Gordon wrote his song after watching a documentary on the omnipresent “Hallelujah,” which Cohen recorded in 1984 and which later became a staple of films, TV and the repertoires of other artists.

Most of us know what living on the “wrong side of the tracks” means, but how many of us realize the role social injustice often plays in who lives there? Prolific Guelph, ON-based folk singer-songwriter James Gordon examines this, taking a deeper look into humanity’s widening chasms, pulling no punches in the process, in this, his new single, “The Great Divide”.

“There’s a railroad track near my house that divides the ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’,” he notes. “It’s the same in many towns.

“It got me thinking about all the different ‘divisions’ we’ve created in our society,” he continues. “Economic, racial, class, etc... The song ‘The Great Divide’ came from this observation.”

Check out “The Great Divide” on YouTube here:

While Canadians were largely at loose ends self-isolating during the lengthy series of pandemic-related lockdowns, prolific folk singer/songwriter James Gordon hunkered down and got busy creating his 40th album, When I Stayed Home.

That’s right; Four. Zero.

And the timely 13-track full-length release also features Gordon’s powerful musical response to the national residential school tragedies with the song, “We’ll Bring You Home.”

Listen and watch the poignant single “We’ll Bring You Home” on YouTube here:
https://youtu.be/5D4cAXqSjZg

The arrival of COVID-19 — and the fear, uncertainty, and disruption it brought with it — initially affected Gordon, like many of us, negatively. Since the Guelph, Ontario based artist has toured all over the globe relentlessly since his twenties, being stuck at home was depressing… At least, for a while.