#MyMusicStory by Jeff Orson
My music story is centered around Canadian great Gordon Lightfoot and his 1972 album Don Quixote. I was about 11 at the time and too young to go on the big fishing trip with my dad and older brother, so I was left behind in our tiny home in Niagara Falls with my mom. As it turned out, the “big trip” was washed out with the big seas of Lake Nipissing, and the fishing was terrible. However, my father had picked up Gordon’s new release, Don Quixote, for my mom as a gift and as soon as we played it, I was hooked on folk-rock, country-western music. Christian Island was one of my favourite songs, I suppose, because of my family’s affinity for water. I continue to listen to that record to this day and Gordon was certainly an influence on some of my earlier work like Rainy New York Morning. Those songs take me back to a very pleasant time in my life when, although we had very little in the way of material processions, we were very happy as a family in our little white house. My folks were pretty good at stretching a dollar and we never really felt like we went without. It was years later that I would finally see Gordon perform live at Massey Hall, and see him up close when I played a set at Mariposa.
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Canadian contemporary country singer/songwriter Jeff Orson and his new single “Pray” is connecting fans around the world while raising funds towards COVID-19 relief. Check him out on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, Website, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
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