Kevin Gordon
“There are so many stories in north Louisiana and it’s a place that nobody pays attention to. For me, you can feel the arc of time passing there. I’m captivated by the power of strong memories—those films that run continuously in your mind, if you let ‘em.”
He’s amazing.” –Jim Lauderdale
“Dude’s a juke-joint professor emeritus”–Rolling Stone
Kevin Gordon’s Louisiana is a strange place. It’s a place where restless teens road trip
to where the highway dead-ends at the Gulf of Mexico; a place where prisoners who are
in for life compete in a rodeo while the town watches; where a character can get lost in
the humid afternoon and where religion may not signify hope; and where rivers, never
far away, carry secrets behind levees. “One of the things I like about it and am mystified
by is that what passes for normal in Louisiana would not make the grade elsewhere,” he
says.
The kicker? All of these postcards are based on true stories. It’s a place that he’s been
exploring for twenty years now, on the eve of the release of his astonishing new album
“Tilt And Shine” on Crowville Media. It is work that has earned him fans like noted author
and Elvis Presley biographer Peter Guralnick; New West Records artist Buddy Miller;
journalist, songwriter, and Country Music Hall of Fame staffer Peter Cooper; Todd
Snider; head of the Americana Music Association Jed Hilly; and Lucinda Williams, with
whom Kevin dueted on the song “Down To The Well” (which was featured prominently on
an Oxford American compilation).
Before you even hear his vivid lyrics, you start feeling the sound of that ’56 Gibson ES-
125 tuned down to open D, often with the tremolo flowing like a river, and an
unstoppable groove distilled from swamp blues and Sun Records. His MFA from the
University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop allows him to capture it with a degree of precision. As the New York Times put it in its headline of a feature on Kevin, “A Musician Or A Poet? Yes to
Both.”
Find out more about Kevin Gordon at kg.kevingordon.net
What they are saying about Kevin Gordon and "Tilt and Shine"
“Vivid, gripping.”– Jon Freeman, Rolling Stone Country, May 25, 2018
“Brilliance… Mesmerizing… Gordon delivers another album that comes as close to sonic poetry as anything from any musician who hasn’t already won a Nobel Prize for literature… earthy, literary music… visceral, electric blues-based vibe.” – Scott Stroud, Associated Press, July 27, 2018
“Terrific… Another keeper… He’s one of America’s finest, most literary and talented musicians… it’s the way Gordon crafts his words to reflect reality without cliché that helps the music resonate long after the last note has faded.”– Hal Horowitz, American Songwriter, July 23, 2018
“‘Tilt and Shine’ may be the best rock ’n’ roll album anyone will release this year in Davidson County and its environs… impressive achievement.” – Edd Hurt, Nashville Scene, July 26, 2018
“I’m struck by his mastery… Nobody in this town is better.”– Ted Drozdowski, Premier Guitar, September, 2018
“Novelistic.”– Jeff Burger, The Morton Report, July 16, 2018
“Rumbling, rocking, raw-boned roots sound.”– Stuart Munro, Boston Globe, July 13, 2018
“He proudly flies the rock & roll flag… Vivid, swampy.”– Blurt Magazine, July 23, 2018
“Terrific disc.”– Jeff Niesel, Cleveland Scene, July 12, 2018
“First-rate musical storyteller.”– Mark Zaretsky, New Haven Register, July 19, 2018
“87/100… Authentic stories, vivid character portraits river and levee images populate the songs, and the swamp is ever present in his sound. The dichotomy of refined, literate lyrics and raw, crunching bluesy guitars define Gordon’s signature organic sound… [He] says more in three and half minutes than most songwriters say on an entire album.” – Jim Hynes, Elmore Magazine, July 27, 2018
“Amazing.”– Lee Zimmerman, Gigwise, August 1, 2018
“Another scruffy gem.”– Mayer Danzig, Twangville, July 24, 2018
“This is a masterful record. Kevin is one of those hidden gems. If you’ve read this far you know he’s pretty special.” – Viola Krouse, Making a Scene, July 23, 2018
“Impressive… excellent… With the release of Tilt & Shine (Crowville Records) Kevin Gordon once again proves why he is one of the most interesting artists on the Americana scene… I am not sure there is a better songwriter working today and Tilt & Shine goes a long way in cementing Gordon’s already stellar reputation.”
– Jason Davidson, Americana Highways, July 27, 2018
