July '25 Newsbetter

Happy Holiday Weekend all.... it's always a big one for me!

Well, June was quite a month! The end is in sight.

The Arvi and James Songwriting/Food/Yoga retreat was a big success... stay tuned for info about next year. Here's this year's graduating class. A dozen baby songs are now in the world as a result of our gathering!

My Two show debuts went well- though they were placed too closely together. Thanks to all who came out to "James Gordon Sings You A River" and "Smashing the Oligarchy".. both these one-man shows are ready to tour now if you can think of any spots I might check out.

It was an inspiring night as Charlie Angus' guest speaker for his "Elbows Up Resistance Tour" when it came through Guelph. A full house to hear his compelling message. Here's a shot of Charlie preaching to the choir..

Got to finish off the month with Katherine Wheatley at the lovely Coulson Church Concert series near Orillia ON. In the middle of a heat wave, the audience sweated along with us and gave us a more than warm response

July is deliberately quieter - I get some time to write and relax on the Eramosa Belle...

July 1st - Known nationally as "The Day Before James' Birthday" - I'll be back in Guelph at my almost annual appearance for "Tea 'n Tales" at the lovely Enabling Garden in Riverside Park 10 am. Free.. BYO lawn chair. I'm in good company with some great storytellers-I'll be debuting a new Canada Day Song that reflects these strange times we're in- I'll post the link below-

THEN.. my July Travels take me to THREE Ontario Provincial Parks. I love playing for families in those nice amphitheatres. The Mosquitoes love those shows too.

July 19th, 7 pm. I'll be at Arrowhead Park just north of Huntsville ON

July 24th, 7pm. I'll be at Kilbear Park north of Parry Sound ON

July 26th, 7 pm I'll be at Grundy Lake Provincial Park, ( between Sudbury and Parry Sound)-

Free with admission to the parks

Here's the FB link to "Canada's Not For Sale 'cuz We Don't Own It"-... my slightly crabby Canada Day offering. https://www.facebook.com/JamesSGordon/videos/1347684889660387/?notif_id=1751126198522423&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic&ref=notif​

In Other News: as some of you know I'm the Artistic Director of the "Praise The Ward" festival here in my beloved Ward Neighbourhood in Guelph. The Line-up has just been announced and tickets are on sale for a newly expanded festival- September 20th and 21st. Check it out at https://praisetheward.com/​

AND- .. after waiting 6 months for what is usually a 45-day processing time.. I actually DO have my Work Visa to do my US tour in October- . It's been controversial- because of the current tensions between our two countries, many are thinking I shouldn't go. Here's why I'm going, 1. I'm stubborn 2. I don't want the bullies to win, AND 3- once over the border I always find that my American audiences are generous, warm, welcoming and empathetic. And many of the promoters on the tour are saying that the alternative voice I can offer can be beneficial. Despite the paperwork, they STILL can turn me away at the border crossing. A lot can happen between now and then. We'll see. The tour takes me to NY state, NY City ( Including the just-announced Greenwich Village Folk Festival)- Pennsylvania, Maryland, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. There are still a couple of open dates if you have any ideas! . Wish me luck!

SO your Road Tale of the month is about Border Crossings. Enjoy.

Don't forget to check out my music at jamesgordonmusic.bandcamp.com and my website... ( Which is going to be updated soon I promise"- can be found at jamesgordon.ca​

Thanks as always for listening and reading!

James

Getting Cross at the Border Crossings

North Dakota

Touring again with Sandy Horne, we arrived in Winnipeg in a torrential downpour in late March, just hours after the end of our CD release concert in Toronto.

The car rental place had messed up our reservation, and we ended up

with a big honkin’ gas guzzlin' SUV, a perfect vehicle for transporting your

average environmentalist activist folk singer. We headed south, past the Louis Riel Industrial Park and a lot of spring flooding towards the North Dakota border.

For the first time in, like, forever, they hauled us in and gave us a

complete search. Maybe it was because our vehicle had the unfortunate

name 'Escape’ or because it kept flashing a light on the dashboard that said

'Theft‘ when the border boys looked in, but they kept us for an eternity in

a holding room and looked like they were ready to have us for lunch.

I had a suitcase full of CDs that really bugged them. Dear readers,

please don’t think the worse of me for this, but I always smuggle my own

CDs across the border to sell, and this is the first time that I’ve been caught.

They reminded me that I was supposed to pay duty on these. I confessed to having overlooked this matter, and offered to pay. They seemed to prefer that I just abandon the recordings there instead, but eventually let me take the suitcase to an adjoining customs building to make amends.

The customs agents were pretty bored. We looked like fun, and they

spread a bunch of the CDs out on a table and started to examine them.

They took turns reading song titles aloud to each other, causing great

hilarity for all. One guy took a shine to ‘We’re Canadians and We’re Sorry.’

“You betcha you’ll be sorry!” threatened the biggest one with the biggest gun. ‘Road Kill Hat’ greatly amused another. One asked me what instrument

I played.

When I said guitar, he said “Ah Ha!- so why is there a picture of you

at the piano on the back of this CD?”

I was caught again.

“Pianos aren’t folk music!” he said, menacingly. He was holding my 'Pipe Street Dreams’ CD. (You’ve all got it, right, dear readers?) I saw my ticket out. I took it from his hands, looked at the picture, and admitted that he was right, and that several critics had made the same complaint when the album had been reviewed; then I pointed to the bottom of that particular CD, where it said 'Wind River Records. Made in the U.S.A.’

He had seized the only CD amongst about 100 in the suitcase that was not

made in Canada.

"These CDs are made in the U.S of A.?” he asked. Already adapting to the North Dakota dialect, I answered, “You betcha.”

“Well then, what the hell did those guys send you over here for?!” He sent us on our way without paying any duty.

Sault. Ste. Marie, Michigan:

Sandy and I were re-entering Canada from Michigan at Sault Ste. Marie.

The Canadian border folks seem more nervous than the American ones. They

usually let us through pretty easily because we have all kinds of official-

looking work visas and green cards to show off. We NEVER get searched (except in that last story!), which is good because we are usually smuggling hot James Gordon CDs across. THIS time, they get suspicious when they ask how much we spent in the States. I confessed to fifteen dollars and Sandy hadn't spent a single Yankee dollar. This didn't seem right to the officer, for the amount of time we had been there, so he asked us to pull over for a search. (Tip: always buy SOMETHING. Border dudes want to know that you are a slave to our consumerist culture, otherwise you must be up to no good.)

Anyway: we pulled up beside five burly and bored customs guys, and I realized that we were doomed. This is how I had spent my fifteen dollars. We had stopped at the Wicka store in Petoskey and for two friends I had purchased a bag of sage (for native rituals) and a big witch candle with lots of mysterious symbols all over it. The candle was wrapped up so that the two items together looked a lot like a bag of dope and a stick of dynamite.

"We are going to be arrested for being drug dealers, witches, and

worse, musicians!" I whispered to Sandy, who was looking for her cloak of

invisibility.

Luckily for us, the lovely and very overworked Miss Sue Baru came to the

rescue. You should see my little car when we're on the road. It is completely

packed. The tiny station wagon contains 3 guitars, a P.A. system, an electric

piano, two large amplifiers, two suitcases filled with contraband CDs,

microphone stands, clothing, a CD display rack, two pairs of cowboy boots,

two small musicians and a few dozen empty coffee cups. There is not an inch

to spare. The five-man search party surrounded the car. Their leader opened

the back hatch and tugged at Sandy's bass. Nothing moved. Another tried a

side-door attack on the two garment bags. Nothing moved. One crawled into

the passenger seat and started to pull at a briefcase containing my laptop. It

wouldn't budge. Nothing would budge. The fearless five stepped back,

realizing the huge task they had ahead of them. They looked at each other,

looked at us, then the leader muttered "get out of here" and waved us on!