Kevin Gordon – “Church on Time” (audio) (premiere)

Kevin Gordon's blend of blues and poetry is especially appealing on this fantastic new track.

When you’re described by esteemed critic Peter Guralnick a combination of John Lee Hooker and William Carlos Williams, and when an artist as great as Lucinda Williams sings high praise about your work, people will notice. Indeed, Kevin Gordon makes awfully good, not to mention literate American music, his skill at the blues and his poetic background making him a distinct voice in today’s roots scene. His new album Long Gone Time will be released next month, but in the meantime you can hear the genial little blues tune “Church on Time” below.

“‘Church on Time”‘ is one of few songs I’ve written that came from a line, or a central idea — as opposed to trying to tell a certain character’s story (who’s usually a real person),” says Gordon. “‘Didn’t make it to church on time’ — there were many ways I could relate to that, and the song is a less-than-serious exploration of the day-to-day tension between one’s ideals (what I should do) vs. one’s reality (what I did do). The last verse feels, to me, like a bit of a nod to Eddie Cochran, one of my favorite songwriting rock ‘n’ rollers from the ’50s. Recording this was just plain fun, and I hope it sounds that way.”