Press

PROFILE: DAVID GOGO

GOING OUT

Canada's top blues guitarist never felt he was at a musical crossroads. 'I just try to follow my instincts, and lately it's been working pretty good.'

By BRAD WHEELER
Friday, August 26, 2005 Page R20

As record companies and musicians do their various things, the blues makes its own way. In the early nineties, EMI Records signed a young blues guitarist out of Nanaimo, B.C., and, naturally, strongly suggested that he put out a rock -- not a blues -- record. David Gogo did as he was instructed, but in an insurgent stroke, included one blues track on the album, B.B. King's It's My Own Fault, a slow burner that was a staple of King's live shows in the sixties.

After the release of his self-titled debut in 1994, Gogo was driving through Toronto when he heard his work on the radio. The local FM rock station had spurned the album's rock single, playing instead the seven-minute-long blues track. "Not that I was trying too hard to be a rebel," Gogo explains over the phone, "but it was nice having the blues song "

And it has kept coming. Although awarded the prize as the country's top blues guitarist twice over the past three years, the singer-guitarist has veered back and forth between genres, to the point that the boundaries are no longer so important to him. "I find that I'm just writing now," the 36-year-old Gogo says, referring to the material that graces his latest albums, 2002's Skeleton Key and last year's Vibe. "I'm not saying, 'Okay, this is a blues song and this is going to be my attempt at a commercial song.' I just try to follow my instincts, and "

Gogo's instincts direct him to write material that is more bluesy than blues straight-up (Colin James would be an apt comparison). Vibe features the southern-fried first single Love in the City, the fat-riffed, bruising Hit Me from Above and the languid acoustic 300 Pound Shoes. Other tracks lean to soulful classic rock.

On the road, Gogo makes set-list decisions in accordance with the venues and audiences. On opening slots with a headliner such as the Tragically Hip, Gogo might stick to more rockish material. On the other hand, organizers at blues festivals might prompt him toward the bluesier numbers. Often though, intentions give away to voices from the audience. "The Edmonton Blues Festival people wanted more blues from us, not the rock stuff," Gogo says, referring to an appearance last weekend. "But "

Not only does Gogo need to keep his repertoire straight, he also keeps his eye on not one, but two separate touring bands -- one based on the West Coast; the other in Ottawa. "It's the best thing I've done," he says, noting that the double-band setup cuts down on touring costs. "I get enough work to keep both bands loyal -- "

Gogo has led bands for some time, but on occasion he's shared the stage with players with heavy legends attached to them. As a teenager, he met Stevie Ray Vaughan, who was something of a mentor to Gogo. He has played with Chicago great Otis Rush, and he has even traded licks with King at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 1992. The experience was unnerving to a 20-year-old kid from Nanaimo, but he "bit "and got through it.

And now, 13 years down the road, Gogo meets up again with the acclaimed guitarist, playing on the undercard of King's 80th-birthday show at Toronto's Molson Amphitheatre on Wednesday. If he is invited to share the stage with the man known as the King of the Blues, Gogo will be do as he has done in similar spots. "Basically, you just respect the fact that it's their stage -- you're a guest. When they're playing, "

"But you've been invited up there for a reason," he continues. "I "

David Gogo opens for B.B. King on Aug. 31, at the Molson Amphitheatre (7 p.m., $10.70 to $69.50, 416-870-8000).