Gene Gorski

Musical Rx: The doctor orders unity
By Mike McGinley mmcginley@timesleader.com
Staff Writer

Besides practicing medicine, Gene Gorski has one other passion: folk-rock music.



Dr. Gene Gorski, a lover of folk-rock music, poses with his guitar in preparation for the Songpull event he’s organized for tomorrow night. He hopes to build alliances among area musicians who come out to share their music.

DON CAREY/THE TIMES LEADER


In fact, the general practitioner has recorded four albums, all from a studio in his home in Hazleton. He’s been trying to get local artists together to sing some relaxing tunes but until now has not been able to generate enough interest.

Thanks to his friend Mike Naydock and a Web site, www.songpull.com, he believes he has the support he needs.

“I’ve wanted to do it for over a year,” said Gorski, who on Saturday will host a community get-together for area musicians at the Ramada Inn in Hazleton.

Gorski said he’ll supply a guitar, which he’ll pass around to all participants to use as they perform an acoustic song of their own.

“If you look at songwriting communities, there’s Philly and New York City, but there is zero beyond there,” he said. “It’d be great to establish a songwriting community.”

The songwriters will perform in the hotel lounge under the watchful eye of a video recorder that will launch each person’s musical talents onto the Internet, and Gorski hopes that will shed some light on the musical talents tucked into the hills of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

“It’s a pristine concept: write a song and bring it on,” he said.

“It’s pretty much a concept that started out in the Midwest,” he explained. “Guys would get together and pass around the guitar.”

Now, the singer and songwriter, whose inspirations include Zevon, Steinman and Hiatt, hopes to bring some of that back east.

“We’re not going to play just one song and go home,” Gorski said. “It’s going to be a loose format, and everyone will get a shot.”

The Web site describes famous musicians who have participated in songpulls, such as Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan.

Site users can view videos uploaded from across the country, and artists can get feedback on the songs they perform and perhaps even be recognized by an agent looking to discover talent.

That’s always the upside, Gorski said, but the best part is building more of an alliance among musicians in the surrounding areas.

He hopes to get people from Scranton, Hazleton, Bloomsburg, Danville and maybe as far south as Harrisburg.

“My hope is to make this a real community event,” he said.

If you go
What: Songpull.com music get-together

Where: Ramada Inn, Route 309, Hazleton

When: 8-11 p.m. Saturday


Mike McGinley, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7127.
- Mike McGinley, Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, PA