Kevin Gordon’s Long Gone Time

By Brian Rock

Kevin Gordon’s new release, Long Gone Time simmers with the musical flavors of his Louisiana roots. Jazz, Blues and Rockabilly are all slow-cooked together and occasionally brought to a boil to bring out the flavorful essence of each. The lyrics are equally tasty, as the acclaimed “juke-joint professor emeritus” works his mojo magic on these eleven new stories in song.

“All in the Mystery,” leads off with a piano-driven, mellow-groove Blues. Singing, “How in the hell did you wind up here… It’s all in the mystery.” Gordon takes three quick lyrical snapshots of people who are up, down, or just confused. He hints that whether you’re up or whether you’re down, there may be more to your circumstances than you’re aware of.

“GTO” races off next. A rousing Rockabilly number that tells the story of his dad’s stolen GTO. Sounding like Mark Knopfler at his most ebullient, the song’s six cylinder energy belies the “ugly truth” of a man’s prized possession being dragged out of Lake Pontchartrain after a stolen joy ride. In an art imitates life moment, the song itself is every bit as giddy as a joy ride in a stolen car.

Gordon pays homage to his Bayou roots with the bluesy, “Letter to Shreveport,” “Walking on the Levee,” and “Cajun with a K.” These odes to food, natural beauty, music, and of course Cajun women, all percolate with a swampy, sinewy backbeat.

In, “Shotgun Behind the Door,” and “Crowville,” Gordon offers a compare and contrast study in urban vs. rural living. Bucking the mainstream perception of rural areas as “fly over country,” he points out that there are benefits to country living and drawbacks to urban life as well. In “Shotgun Behind the Door,” he comments about creeping urban sprawl and sirens in the background as he has to, “say my prayers knowing there’s a shotgun behind the door.” In “Crowville,” by contrast, he notes how, “just like they know you folks, wave from the wheel,” ascars pass in this small rural town.

“Church on Time,” rocks the rafters with a Dixie-Jazz infused rock confessional about a man who wants, “to be good like I should, but I always seem to find the sweetest fruit on the vine.”

With, “Following a Sign (The Preacher’s Wife),” Kevin Gordon delivers his most poignant lyrical study. Told from the perspective of a young woman who confesses, “ever since I can remember, I’ve seen angels in the air;” the song shows the difficulty in following your own spiritual path. After being kicked out of church for predicting a storm, she comes to realize that to others who see themselves as religious, you’re either not religious enough or too supernatural. After being groped by a stranger, she learns that to the non-spiritual, you’re just another mark to cheat or to conquer. But through it all, she stays true to herself and her convictions, doing what she can to help others in need. And what gets her through it all is just, “holding on to the sweet Divine; get there how I can, following a sign.” And wouldn’t the world be a better place if we all followed the calling of our own highest self? Maybe if we’re lucky, the time for us to make that choice isn’t too long gone.

kg.kevingordon.net  |  fb  |  buy