Gorka to present concert on Oct. 5

Singer and songwriter John Gorka will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct.  5, at Unitarian Church North in Mequon.

The concert is part of the Wisconsin Singer/Songwriter Series.

Tickets are $22 in advance or $26 at the door. Student tickets are $12. A discount of $1 per food item donated to a maximum $4 will be given at the door.

Gorka is a world-renowned singer-songwriter who got his start at a neighborhood coffeehouse in eastern Pennsylvania, where he encountered folk troubadours such as Stan Rogers, Eric Andersen, Tom Paxton and Claudia Schmidt whose acoustic music inspired him. Before long he was performing his own songs, mostly as an opener for visiting acts.

He then traveled to New York City and later Boston, and his voice and original songwriting began turning heads. Those who had at one time inspired him — Suzanne Vega, Bill Morrissey, Nanci Griffith, Christine Lavin, Shawn Colvin — became his peers.

In addition to 11 critically acclaimed albums, Gorka has released a collector’s edition box and Windham Hill released a collection of his greatest hits. In 2010, he released an album with Lucy Kaplansky and Eliza Gilkyson under the name Red Horse, which received praise from critics and fans and landed on the Billboard Folk Charts.

Among the artists who have recorded and/or performed Gorka’s songs are Mary Chapin Carpenter, Nanci Griffith, Mary Black and Maura O’Connell.

His new song, “Where No Monuments Stand,” is featured in the upcoming documentary “Every War Has Two Losers,” about activist and Oregon Poet Laureate William Stafford.

Tickets may be purchased at North Shore Bank in Grafton and Mequon and Vines to Cellar in Port Washington or online at www.wsss.org.

Doors to the church at 13800 N. Port Washington Rd. open at 7 p.m.

Upcoming Wisconsin Singer/Songwriter Series concerts are Don White on Saturday, Nov. 9; Anne Heaton with Frank Marotta Jr. on Saturday, Nov. 23; a Port Food Pantry benefit with a number of performers on Saturday, Dec. 7; Matt Watroba and Robert Jones on Saturday, Feb. 8; Peter Mulvey on Saturday, March 8;  Claudia Schmidt on Saturday, March 22; Mustard’s Retreat on Saturday, April 5; Jonsmith and Dan Debranek on Saturday, April 26; and Julie Rust on Saturday, May 10 .