After Yesterday
Encyclopedia
After Yesterday is the seventh studio album by folk
singer-songwriter
John Gorka
. It was released on October 20, 1998 by Red House Records
. The album marked Gorka's return to Red House, after five albums with Windham Hill/High Street Records
. This was heralded as a homecoming-of-sorts as Red House had issued Gorka's debut, I Know in 1987. The album also marks several changes in the life of the artist himself. Themes of parenting and family life first heard here on songs such as, "When He Cries" and "Cypress Trees" have now become a regular feature of Gorka's subsequent albums.
The album was well received by both reviewers and folk music radio DJs. The album debuted at number two on the Folk Music Radio Airplay Chart for October and held the number one position in November 1998.
a decade later. Blumenfeld tells this story:
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
John Gorka
John Gorka
John Gorka is a contemporary American folk musician. In 1991, Rolling Stone magazine called him "the preeminent male singer-songwriter of what has been dubbed the New Folk Movement."-Biography:...
. It was released on October 20, 1998 by Red House Records
Red House Records
Red House Records is an American independent record label specializing in folk music and is based in St. Paul, Minnesota.The label was originally created in 1981 by Greg Brown as a method to distribute his own music, and is named for a farmhouse in Iowa where he was living...
. The album marked Gorka's return to Red House, after five albums with Windham Hill/High Street Records
High Street Records
High Street Records was a subsidiary label of Windham Hill Records from about 1990 to 1997. Notable acts who recorded for the label include John Gorka, Pierce Pettis, Patty Larkin, The Subdudes, and Dots Will Echo...
. This was heralded as a homecoming-of-sorts as Red House had issued Gorka's debut, I Know in 1987. The album also marks several changes in the life of the artist himself. Themes of parenting and family life first heard here on songs such as, "When He Cries" and "Cypress Trees" have now become a regular feature of Gorka's subsequent albums.
The album was well received by both reviewers and folk music radio DJs. The album debuted at number two on the Folk Music Radio Airplay Chart for October and held the number one position in November 1998.
"Heroes"
"Heroes" was actually written by Gorka sometime in the 1980s. Gorka's copy of the lyrics were stolen, however, and the song was forgotten until Gorka relearned it from Hugh BlumenfeldHugh Blumenfeld
Hugh Blumenfeld is an American folk musician and singer-songwriter from Connecticut. He was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, graduated with degrees in Biology and Humanities from M.I.T. in 1980, and got a Masters in English Literature from the University of Chicago in 1981...
a decade later. Blumenfeld tells this story:
I learned 'Heroes' from John in KerrvilleKerrville Folk FestivalThe Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival held for 18 consecutive days in the late spring/early summer at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas. The event has run on a yearly basis since 1972. In November 2008, the Kerrville Folk Festival and Kerrville Wine & Music Festival were acquired...
- I think it was 1987. He was camped next to my wife Andrea and me in an enclave that had been dubbed 'Little New York.' I forget when we first heard the song, whether it was there or earlier in NYC, but it was at Andrea's request that I learned it. The song was brand new and we both loved it as soon as we heard it, but Andrea was the one who wanted to sing it. So, one bright midmorning when things in the campgrounds are lazy and slow, John passed over his notebook and I copied out the words. Soon afterwards, the notebook - along with his guitar - was stolen from his car and never recovered.
Andrea and I sang it at home from time to time during the next ten years - our own private little treasure. It never occurred to either of us to ask John about it, until I opened for him at Godfreys in 1997. It was only then I learned that the song had been lost in the notebook and that he'd forgotten it long ago. So I was able to play it for him downstairs in the dressing room before the gig and write him out a copy of his own lyric.
Track listing
All songs written by John Gorka except where noted- "When the Ice Goes Out" – 4:51
- "Thorny Patch" – 5:22
- "Cypress Trees" – 3:12
- "Wisdom" – 5:34
- "Silvertown" – 4:31
- "January Floor" (Cass Gorka, John Gorka) – 4:00
- "Amber Lee" – 4:30
- "After Yesterday" – 2:28
- "When He Cries" – 1:24
- "St. Caffeine" – 3:27
- "Zuly" – 4:46
- "Heroes" – 4:36
Credits
- Linda Beauvais Artwork, Design
- David Glasser Mastering
- John Gorka Banjo, Guitar, Vocals, Producer
- Peter Horvath Engineer, Original Production Assistance
- John Jennings Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar, Percussion, Drums, Guitar (Electric), Keyboards, Producer, Bass (Upright)
- Lucy Kaplansky Vocals
- Jed Luhmann Engineer
- Dean MagrawDean Magraw-Biography:Magraw was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and grew up in St. Paul. He began playing guitar at the age of 13. Magraw performed in a duo for many years with Peter Ostroushko and has also performed with Tim Sparks, John Gorka and many other artists....
Guitar (Acoustic) - Michael ManringMichael ManringMichael Manring is an American electric bassist from the San Francisco Bay Area, .-Biography:...
Bass - Ann Marsden Artwork, Design, Photography
- Peter OstroushkoPeter OstroushkoPeter Ostroushko is an American violinist and mandolinist.-Background and career:Of Ukrainian ancestry, Ostroushko grew up in northeast Minneapolis...
Fiddle, Mandolin - Andy Stochansky Percussion, Drums, Original Production Assistance
- Tommy Tucker, Jr. Engineer
- Tommy Tucker Engineer
- Shane Washington Mixing
External links
- After Yesterday, lyrics and samples from official John Gorka web site
- After Yesterday page from Red House RecordsRed House RecordsRed House Records is an American independent record label specializing in folk music and is based in St. Paul, Minnesota.The label was originally created in 1981 by Greg Brown as a method to distribute his own music, and is named for a farmhouse in Iowa where he was living...
- [ After Yesterday] entry at the Allmusic
- An interview with John Gorka from Bodles Opera House in Chester, New YorkChester, New YorkChester, New York may refer to:*Chester , New York, a town in Orange County**Chester , New York, a village in that town*Chester, Warren County, New York...
on September 17, 1999, by Angela Page, Folk Plus, WJFF-FM, airdate: September 18, 1999