Add my name to the Gordon Bok Defense League roster!(as if he needed defending!) I'm not from Maine, and I'm not as old as Kendall (*BG*) and therefore can't claim loyalty of the LENGTH Kendall does, but just the same...

Seriously, Gordon is a poet of extraordinary sensitivity, and an incredible singer and musician. A really nice guy, too, who does a lot of sharing music with friends, just for fun. Maybe Gordon's singing is not to our new friend's taste, but is he the Real Thing? ABSOLUTELY!

I have never come across another songwriter more able to capture complex images and emotions in such elegant and evocative language. His cante-fable of "Peter Kagan and the Wind" is a masterpiece of music and words woven together into a magical whole that still brings tears to my eyes 20 years after first hearing. For darn near 30 years now, it's Gordon's music that I've turned to when I want comfort. Night Owl, I'm with you! "Turning Toward the Morning" has been mentioned. He wrote it as a gift for a friend who was in trouble; it became a gift for us all. The "Woodworker's Litany" I mentioned earlier in this thread is one of my ultimate comfort songs. And the "Windcalling" that ends his story of "Another Land Made of Water" is another.

Unlike so many songwriters, Gordon also sings and understands traditional songs, and that deep understanding informs his songwriting (and his tune-writing, for that matter). Someone who didn't have both the knowledge of and the respect for traditional songs couldn't have written songs like "Clear Away in the Morning" or "Mrs. MacDonald's Lament."

And then there is the small matter of how well Gordon plays guitar(s), and viols, and cellos, and just about anything else with strings on it. Most of us guitar players spend our lives wishing we could be just HALF that good.

The Real Thing? YOU BET! Kathy