Playing on his own terms
Nanaimo native David Gogo keeps his musical edge by going on tour
Mike Devlin
Victoria Times Colonist - October 7, 2004
IN CONCERT
Downchild Blues Band with David Gogo
When: Saturday, 8 p.m.
Where: McPherson Playhouse
Tickets: $43
Phone: (ph. 386-6121)
David Gogo can write, play and sing with the best blues performers
in the country. But he is, above everything else, a musician who's
most at-home on a concert stage.
During the mid-'90s, when he was briefly signed to a contract with
EMI Records, the hard-working musician was essentially robbed of his
ability to perform live. Gogo was inexplicably asked by the label not
to tour, as EMI wanted him primarily to be a songwriter.
He left EMI on his own terms in 1995, shortly after the release
of his self-titled debut for the label. Though the album helped earn
Gogo a Juno Award nomination for best new solo artist, he'd had enough
by that point. The career he had fought hard to establish on both coasts
had all but dissolved once he gave up touring.
Now, mere days before the release Vibe, his seventh album and first
of strictly original material, the 35-year-old Nanaimo native is being
rewarded for his perseverance.
"From Victoria and Lloydminster to Ottawa and Fredericton,
people are getting interested in playing our music again," Gogo
says. "That's an accomplishment for anyone, let alone an indie
blues artist. Radio is a pretty narrow scope right now in what they
will add. Unless you sing that doomsday shit the kids like, it's tough."
When Gogo made the decision to return to music on his own terms
in 2000, his first step was to make touring a priority. Gogo has since
turned his road philosophy into his stock-in-trade. Now a fixture of
festivals across Canada, he's a popular concert attraction with two
live albums to his credit.
"I think my skill as a player is better, my skill as a singer
is better and my skill as a songwriter is better. That comes from working
all the time, and continually doing it. No more of these lulls. It's
like anything else. If you're an athlete, you can't sit on your ass
for three months and all of a sudden jump up and expect to play."
In support of Vibe, which hits stores Tuesday, Gogo is once again
hitting the touring circuit, including a number of dates opening for
the re-formed Downchild Blues Band.
The national tour, the longest of Gogo's career, runs non-stop until
Nov. 26. To combat the rising costs of touring with a full band, Gogo
has devised a plan which enables him to further his name across the
country at a fraction of the normal expense. He hires separate backing
bands for shows on either coast.
"It was hit-and-miss the first couple of times," he says.
"But now I've got a really good band in Ottawa, and I've got
a really good band out here. For the last two years I've been flying
back and forth and it totally makes sense."
Amidst all the travelling and playing, Gogo developed friendships
with a number of notable Canadians, many who showed up during the recording
of Vibe.
With guitarist Jeff Healey, Tom Wilson of Blackie & the Rodeo
Kings, Craig Northey of The Odds and John Capek -- who's written hits
for Rod Stewart, among dozens of others -- on board guests, the album
took on a slightly rockier feel.
Gogo says he's not worried about the harder-edged recording alienating
his audience. He remains faithful to the blues, no matter the interpretation. "It's
a fine line to straddle that fence. I don't want to necessarily piss-off
the blues (fans) because it's been nice to be invited back to play
at a lot of these festivals. That being said, I don't like to be a
paint-by-numbers blues guy. I like to make things exciting."
