Photo by James Paul

November '26

Howdy all-

Here in Southern Ontario we are experiencing the most glorious autumn ever, yet it's thanks to El Niño so there's a certain uneasiness to enjoying it.. Such is the new world I suppose.

I'm sending this out a couple of days early to give an extra plug to my show this Friday, Oct 30th with Ian Bell at the Brampton Folk Club.

Ian and I don't get to do this song swap thing very often and it's always fun so check it out - Info at BramptonFolk.ca​

There are still some tickets left

After that,

I've just got two shows to boast about in November, as I'll be in the studio working on album #43! Both shows on the same day- November 19th. 2 pm in Port Stanley at the Library and 7 pm in St. Thomas Ontario.

Of course, while in St. Thomas, I'm obliged to perform "Jumbo's Last Ride", written for the Hometown Tunes Series: with this Link:

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That's it for shows....

As some of you know, I've been doing songwriting retreat weekends with my dear friend Arvi Gosmo for seven years now, and for #8 we'd like to offer something a little different- opening things up to different artistic interests and more. To that end we have a survey at https://jamesgordon.ca/songwriting-retreat-weekends​

If you fill it in and email it to james@jamesgordon.ca We'll put your name in a draw for a one hundred dollar discount at our next retreat.

Here we are inviting you in:

Here's something I've had to work on today: My Video "Is He Dead Yet?" on Youtube has been stolen by dark forces who inserted footage of the Mango Mussolini dancing his macabre dance to "YMCA", and that song is played over mine! ! Working on getting it taken down. Sheesh. I won't direct you to it since I don't want it to look like it's getting attention! Here's the original:

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And while we're at it.. wishing all my American Friends a safe and successful mid-term election next week - Perhaps the result might enable me to return to touring there!

We're getting disturbingly close to gift shopping season- so I'd humbly ask you to check out my Merchandise at jamesgordonmusic.bandcamp.com ​

Thanks as always for listening and reading.

As usual I'll finish with my Road Tale Of The Month- this one from my Hometown Tunes show in Ingersoll Ontario. This was what my friend David Essig calls a "humility gig". Oh well- we carry on!

Ingersoll- October '26:

There’s a back story. I’ve been touring Southern Ontario with my “Hometown Tunes” show - songs from my CBC radio series featured on “Ontario Morning” years ago, where listeners sent in ideas for songs from their hometowns. One of the stops was Ingersoll- since I had a song about it that mentioned their legendary “mammoth cheddar”- and it felt like a good fit to hold it at, yes, the Ingersoll Cheese Museum. ( Insert your own puns here)- Scheduled for this past summer, the gig was postponed because of the risk of wild fire smoke. Part of the new age we’re in I guess. The friendly museum curator had what seemed like a good idea… she’d reschedule my concert as part of “Pumpkin Fest” where there was sure to be lots of people. I agreed, and when I asked for the promotional material to spread to my socials and newsletter, she sent me a flyer for the event which advertised “Vendors, Food Trucks, Pumpkins, Costume Contest, Prizes, Petting Zoo and last and apparently least - “Live Music”. No mention of who was providing the music, the name of my presentation and the fact that I had an Ingersoll song, or where it was or when. Don’t they know who I think I am?It was a beautiful sunny autumn day when I arrived to set up for the afternoon show- and there was already an endless lineup of cars along the main road. ( That’s where I had to park after unloading my gear so I got my steps in for the day though it cut into my set-up time.) They had me in the Sherbrooke barn which was, well, a barn. Turns out I was sharing the freezing cold space with the display of carved pumpkins. They were close to the barn doors and they had decent lighting overhead; my end of the building was pretty dark, ( I had to use my flashlight to see the knobs on my mixing board.) I WAS pleased to see that they had around a hundred chairs set up though. I found he curator who apologized for the dim surroundings. Apparently the bulb had burned out on the only light near the corner they had placed me in. She DID turn on a row of blue Christmas lights though. ( I should mention that besides the unusual performing conditions the staff was very friendly and helpful.) When I joked with her and said “I’m quite a Prima Donna you know- I like to be seen when I perform”, she answered “well, Mr. Gordon, you ARE at a cheese museum and you ARE playing in a barn after all”, which put me firmly aligned with my humble new billing as ‘live music’. There was no sign on the barn saying that there WAS music inside, and apparently no way to announce to the throngs that I was about to start. I went outside to get warm before showtime, dodging the long lineup to pet a donkey and the even longer one to get a sword balloon. No lineup for the live music though. I spotted two old friends who lived nearby who had come to see my show. They had been wandering the grounds trying to find out where I was. I welcomed them into the barn. They took their seats and I commenced. The curator told me afterwards that they had 6000 pumpkin aficionados at the wingding, though my two friends were my only customers. Every now and then some kids would wander in to see the pumpkins, and when some lingered, I would switch up my planned material and do kid’s songs, with the approval of my two patrons. About half an hour in a crowd of kids and their parents started to gather, led by the curator who motioned to me that she’d like to use my mic for about ten or fifteen minutes. Turned out my ‘corner’ was also the location for the costume contest judging, and I guess THAT part had been announced to the masses. I took a break, and the attached picture. Not sure why all the costume-wearing kids looked so miserable. Perhaps because they were in a freezing dark barn on a sunny warm day. You can just make out my guitar in the background. They finished with an adult costume contest, though they failed to consider my authentic folksinger outfit. The ceremony ended, and I resumed, playing for the additional few folks who lingered and who seemed surprised that there WAS music there, as well as my stalwart duo. My big finish was my Ingersoll song , featuring the timeless lyrics “We must pay homage to that great big Fromage” I thanked my friends and my museum hosts, packed up and took a quick cruise around the site to see the vendor booths ( all with very cheesy trinkets,) and the food trucks, ( Grilled cheese sandwiches and Cheese burgers naturally), and took the long walk back to my car, wondering all the while why I ignored that showbiz axiom “never share a bill with kids or animals”.

Here's the pic of the oddly forlorn-looking costume contestants: You can just see my guitar in the background.