John Gorka – The Company You Keep

John Gorka’s thick, soulful baritone is as rich as homemade bread just out of the oven. Though Gorka was influenced by many ’60s folkies, including Stan Rogers and Tom Paxton, his most important model was Eric Andersen. Like Andersen, Gorka sounds rough and weathered enough to pull off incisive social critiques, yet sensitive and intimate enough to play the wounded romantic.

The Company You Keep is Gorka’s eighth album, and while it’s not groundbreaking, it’s more eclectic and atmospheric than his previous work. At times the busy pop-rock arrangements obscure the subtle creases of Gorka’s lyrics, but often enough they provide serious ballast. The infectious, Motownish groove of the opening track, “What Was That”, inspires some powerful gospel-style vocals from Gorka and his fine harmony singer Kathleen Johnson.

While Gorka’s lyrics still lack the incisive poetry and philosophic gravity of, say, Greg Brown, he has nevertheless perfected a deft social worker’s outreach, offering compassion without illusion. And though his sense of humor can be a bit heavy-handed (as on the too-clever “Hank Senior Moment”), the album’s finest cut, “Shape Of The World”, rises above irony and delivers real insight into the travails and rewards of the troubadour life.