John Gorka may be the most famous folk singer to currently call Minnesota home, but he's never truly been accepted as one of us. In his performance Saturday at the Hopkins Center For the Arts, the New Jersey native, who moved here in 2005, made an extra effort to establish himself as a Minnesotan by covering Prince's "When Doves Cry," a song he learned the day the legend died. He also gave a shout-out to Austin's recently renovated Spam Museum, which he toured earlier this month
"It's very moving," Gorka said in a solo performance in which sarcasm and self-deprecating humor was as prominent as his moving ballads. "Put it on your list."
Gorka offered cuts from his rich catalog ranging from his 1987 sing-along, "Branching Out" to "Mennonite Girl," which can be found on his new album, "True in Time," recorded at Uptown Sound in Minneapolis and featuring a number of Twin Cities musicians.
That should be enough to finally embrace him as one of us.
Gorka's next scheduled performance in the area is Nov. 17 at Cedar Cultural Center.
