David Gogo opened the Bluesfest in Ottawa with a performance on
Friday July 9.
Canadian blues musician David Gogo opened the 11th annual Ottawa
Bluesfest on Friday night with a thrilling 60-minute show that won't
soon be forgotten.
The 35-year-old Nanaimo, B.C. resident played a variety of blues
standards as well as his own compositions throughout the set. The crowd
of beer-drinking, marijuana-smoking fans repeatedly got up to applaud
his slide guitar playing.
Gogo - who has played the festival before - was in fine form, and
appeared relaxed on stage. Wearing black jeans and a powder-blue cowboy
shirt with white trim, he peppered his between-songs banter with local
references such as Barrymore's Music Hall and Mello's Coffee Shop.
"It felt great to open the festival," he said. "We've
been here before, but usually it's a last-minute fill-in for someone
else who couldn't make it.
"So to open it on the main stage, opening for George Thorogood,
it really felt good."
Bluesfest organizers estimated that 21,000 blues lovers attended
the opening night festivities.
Gogo is one of the hardest working musicians in Canada. In 2003,
he played more than 200 shows. He has a band in Vancouver and another
one in Ottawa.
"In the old days when you were driving across Canada, that
just kills you. But to fly back and forth and have the two bands, that
really works out," Gogo said.
He also does numerous solo acoustic shows on the west coast.
Things weren't always so good for Gogo. His first record deal turned
sour when EMI record executives told him they wanted him to be a hard
rock artist, but his heart was in the blues. They eventually let him
go.
"I think the first album was too blues for the rock fans, and
too rock for the blues fans," he said.
Gogo eventually signed with a small west coast label - Cordova Bay
Entertainment Group. He is happy with the relationship he has with
them.
His seventh release, Live at Deer Lake, came out in 2003. It was
a live radio broadcast, that wasn't supposed to be released, but soon
started showing up on the internet illegally. Bootlegging forced the
company to release it.
"I just hope that people realize that downloading music for
free is bad. Sorry, but it is. A guy like me, I'm just looking to make
enough money from my album sales that I can make another album. I'm
not looking to buy a city block in New York with my profits."
He is pragmatic about the state of the music industry in this country.
"The reality of the Canadian music industry is that with the
population there's only so many records you can sell and so many places
you can play. You have to be realistic. It's difficult for a band that
wants to get to the point where they've got a tour bus, and they've
got a big crew and everything. There's only so much money you can bring
in, but there's tons of money you can put out."
He is also worried about media concentration in Canada, and its
effect on getting airplay in this country.
"I don't see why if someone goes down to their local bar and
sees a really good band, phones up their local radio station and says,
'I'd like to hear a song by our local band' and they say 'Sorry, we
can't, because Toronto tells us what we have to play,' you know, that's
a real problem," Gogo said.
"I think we need all the help we can get; whether it's Cancon
(Canadian content rules), or whatever. It's difficult."
Gogo is also adamant that blues music needs to get young people
involved.
"I love all the traditional blues songs, but Lord knows we've
heard them lots. I think what blues artists need to do is write more
songs, get lively and get an edge to everything," he said.
Song writing is something that Gogo sees as very important.
"It's something that is getting easier for me. I didn't do
a lot of it in the old days, but I'm really interested in it now."
Gogo will play in Toronto on July 25, the Navan, Ont. Fair on August
7, and will be in Kingston on August 25. He does not have any Belleville
dates confirmed, but said he would like to play there.
