Gordon Vincent

Gordon Vincent is an adept musician.  From the first few notes of (Too Short to be a Man), I knew I was going to like this album!  He is a guitarist at home on an acoustic guitar, and the runs and fills he is able to play while maintaining a good rhythm make all of the difference in his songs. Besides his guitar work, the musicians he uses on this album to support him do an excellent job as well.  He comes off as modern-day poet/troubadour, fusing the two phases of Dylan’s career (early acoustic approach and later electric work) to produce music that is both rootsy and modern.  No wonder so many people find Gordon’s music appealing!  There is something on this record to please nearly everyone!

Besides being an adept musician, Gordon Vincent is also an excellent songwriter!  Again, the lyrics for the first song (Too Short to be a Man) won me over!  The song is at once irreverent, sarcastic, witty and intelligent!  And, that’s not the only song on the album like that.  In fact, almost every song on the album is written just as well!  Reading through the lyric sheet is a cool experience.  Listening to the way that the lyrics meld together with the music is an additional treat!  This album is incredible, because Gordon Vincent is an excellent musician AND an excellent songwriter!  He could be one or the other and still be a great artist, but having both of these skills makes him a phenomenal artist, and a rising star in the music industry!

What does an excellent singer/songwriter need to communicate his vision?  That’s right, a top notch production/engineering team, working in a city where you can close your eyes, throw a rock, and hit an excellent recording studio!  Much of this project was recorded in Nashville (a town well suited to the sound Gordon Vincent seeks to produce) and by the sound of the album, he was able to find first-rate people to work with!  Every song, whether it is just Gordon and his guitar, or Gordon and a backup band, sounds great!  From top to bottom, this record sounds great, and is done very professionally!

I like the packaging for this CD.  It has all of the essentials, including lyrics, in the liner notes.  Not much else to say, really, so I won’t waste your time!  The packaging does its job, and doesn’t detract from the overall quality of the project at all.  This, in truth, is what you want a CD case and insert to do for you!

Favorite Tracks
Only Knows
Too Short to be a Man
Nobody but Myself to Blame
Always Alone

When I can sit down with a CD, and listen straight through without rolling my eyes or getting anxious to press the skip key, I know that I’m on to something good!  Trust me, I hear a lot of music, so the temptation is strong to just hit the high points, and get on with it when a project isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

With Gordon Vincent’s CD, I didn’t have that problem at all!  In fact, my obligatory listening is over for the review, and I think I’m going to listen to the CD again next time I’m in the car!  I’ve got other CDs to listen to, but they’ll just have to wait, because this one is calling my name!

Buy this CD, and it will be the best money that you will spend this month on a CD; I guarantee it!  Great songwriting and excellent musical ability are just the tip of the iceberg for this talented artist.  Gordon has a great future ahead of him (he’s already been recognized by Billboard Magazine as one of the top Indie artists in the US), and you are fortunate enough to be getting in on the ground floor of his success!  So, take advantage of the opportunity you have today, and get your own copy, so that you can make all of your friends green with envy!
—
Mark Lush
Midwestbands.com
1/7/05 - MIDWEST BANDS/ Mark Lush

RECENT & UPCOMNG SIGHTINGS:
Finalist, 2004 Independent Music World Series (Southeast)
Performer, Dewey Beach Music Conference, Dewey Beach, DE
Performer, Midwest Entertainment Industry Conf., Lexington, KY
Performer, Independent Music Conference, Phila, PA
Performer, Midwest Music Summit, Indianapolis, IN
Finalist, Nashville Starvy Awards. Male Artist
Performer, Nashville 2NMC Music Conference
Performer, 2004 Music City Marathon
Performer, 2004 NXNE Music Conference, Toronto
Performer, 2004 Millenium Music Conference (MMC8) Harrisburg, PA

- Awards & Conferences

Out of what landscape did this young man walk? Watching Gordon Vincent on stage, hearing his voice, you can almost see that shadowy world, the figures moving through it. Over there is Bobby Darin, sweat on his brow from singing "Mack the Knife." He's scoring a smoke from Dion. That guy sweeping up on the left, that's Tom Waits. Dylan, a young Dylan, is talking to Ray Charles in the corner. But who are those guys farther back? Kerouac, and Allen Ginsberg? And is that Sinatra leaning against the pillar over there, in his "Guys and Dolls" makeup: what's he saying to Glenn Ford? "Hey Glenn, the thing about that Vincent kid -- looks a bit like you, by the way -- he knows we're in back of him, but he ain't worried. The kid is an original. He's got his own package to deliver."

Gordon starts a song with an innocent smile on his face. He strums his guitar, playing rhythm, in a loose, fluid way that allows him to insert hooky riffs, fingerpicked chords, and percussive slaps, all in the same stream. He calls this one "The Ice Cream Song". It's got a jaunty, Hit-the-road-Jack groove and Gordon is using a New Orleans drawl to drive the lyric home. The song is hilarious, sexy, cynical. The singer buys a cone (with sprinkles) for this woman he runs into "down by the United Fried Chicken Truck." The joke is, she says she's got no time for him, because she has a man who understands her. His answer: how come, if your man understands you, you're here all alone? This little joust continues while the twosome "sip the same straw all over town", and the tension of their mutual distrust just makes their sensual romp more delicious.

You never know what Gordon Vincent willl throw at you next. He can do the stream of images thing: "Goin' back to where I'm goin'" is a sterling example. He can do traditional folk, as in "Highway Man" with its scathing line, "A highway man will never love no one, so he should learn to live alone." He can break your heart with the rueful, achingly melodic "Nobody but myself to blame". And he can make you believe in forgiveness with the infectious, joyful "Love that train". When you ask yourself what is the common ingredient here, what is the elusive factor that infuses his songs and grips you in his stage presence and won't let you go, you can begin to put your finger on it. It has to do with the insolent calmness of his smile, the heavily-lashed eyes that just dare you to look away, the hint of wariness that will suddenly explode into play. What lurks behind his songs? Maybe it's an awareness of the threat of violence, and an erotic heat that goes with that. And a respect for people's façades, that comes when you know how they can hurt and betray, yet how necessary they are for survival.

Gordon Vincent has a song, "Going West" that contains all this and more. It is a mystical, perfect piece of poetry, a desperate, defiant assertion of the human spirit's longing for love, at any cost. In it, a condemned murderer describes what happens on the night when he is executed, and more important, what will happen after he is executed. He pictures how he will finally "Go west", and waiting for him will be "my true love, my one love, my love". You don't know whom he killed; maybe it's the very woman he longs to join. You don't know if he was "good" or "bad" in life, or what damage he did, or suffered. You just know something this quintessentially American artist brings home so well: that none of that matters as much as what the condemned man yearns for. - The Arts & Entertainment Alert, Nashville, TN

"You Should Know is a great record! I'm adding four tunes to my playlist: Too Short to be a Man, Nobody But Myself to Blame, Always Alone and Feels Like Rain."
— BILL ST. JAMES, REALLY MUSIC RADIO

“We can't make this stuff up...Springsteen arm wrestles John Prine in Tom Waits’ kitchen.” — THE NASHVILLE RAGE

"This guy's got 'the goods'. You know, haunting vocals, slick guitar and for you ladies, the good looks to go along with it. There's just something about this guy that makes him hard to forget." — THE TWO RIVERS TIMES

"At the galactically famous Sutler, we've got the dashing matinee idol and universal heartthrob Gordon Vincent, with his insightful tunes and movie star looks to dazzle us."
— DAVIS RAINES, Shell Point Records artist & host of "All Points South" at The Sutler, Nashville, TN

"An American minstrel on his own road. . .either walking or flying he knows what he wants to say."
— CHRISTOPHER STICKNEY; NEA Award-winning poet

And some listener comments:
'Excellent CD - a must have. If you ever have the opportunity to see Gordon perform - GO. There are few who can match the intense performance you will enjoy at one of his shows. Artists of this magnitude are few and far between - take notice."
 
"This debut CD sounds fantastic, the songwriting is brilliant, Gordon Vincent is a pure talent, you have to own this CD"  
- Various luminaries