GOJO' MUSIC is the term musician / singer-songwriter Gary O'Dea uses to describe his musical output of the last few years. Gary's influences stretch far and wide across many genres of music. He's never been afraid to blend them all up and serve a musical dish that - although the ingredients may be recognisable, the way he blends them together leaves the taste buds crying out for more. He has a conviction about his music, a determination / attitude to do it his way that stems from Garys grounding as a young musician (drummer) / songwriter in the Punk / New Wave rock n roll era of the late 70s / early 80s.
With GOJO' MUSIC the genres are blended together into an all over groove. Contemporary artists such as The Fun Lovin Criminals, Ben Harper etc, are an influence alongside the late great Joe Strummers work of the past few years with The Mescaleros. Gary came up with the term GOJO' MUSIC to describe his musical plan. It resembled the term Mojo (this obviously having association / connotations with the history of black music), it also tipped a cap to Joe Strummers attitude of embracing and mixing / blending many styles into one organic groove (i.e. Jo Music). So GOJO' MUSIC was / is the name given to this groove.
For more info on Gary's past and the musicians and producers he's worked with please visit http://www.gojo-music.co.uk/gazzette.php
Gary started GOJO' MUSIC at the beginning of 2004 playing some excellent summer gigs with a full band line up. Things din't gel as well as first expected so Gary looked elsewhere for suitable candidates to work with. He teamed up with old guitar friend and virtuoso Garry 'Olly' Oliver in Oct 2004. They had known each other since the Punk/ New Wave days of the late 70's early 80's and last played together back in 1986 (the Indie years) in a band called The Railway Children who were managed by ex Boomtown Rat's guitarist Gerry Cott (later - after O'Dea had left - they changed their name to The Weeping Messerschmidtts).
With GOJO' MUSIC - O'Dea wanted the flexibility to be able to work with a full band line up and also scale down to a more intimate acoustic set up as well when required. This has been achieved via working with some excellent old musician friends who have come onboard and added to the GOJO' groove when required - these include Eric Cox - bass and mandolin, Andy Stokes - piano / keyboards and Tony Bate on drums & percussion.
In November 2005 Gary and Olly played a support slot to the wonderful Martin Stephenson at The Little Civic in Wolverhampton - England. It was a great night, working with Martin was a thrill for them both because they were / are both big fans. A friendship and mutual respect with Martin was struck up that resulted in Martin producing GOJO' MUSIC'S debut 4 track EP/CD titled 'Twenty Years Of Love and Pain...they hurt the same' that was releaed on GOJO' MUSIC'S own label in June 2006. It was recorded at O'Dea's home on Martin's portable ZOOM MRS 1266 recording desk and has received critical acclaim - Gary's motto is - 'Home recording...keeps the home fires burning!
Tracks from this are included above. The first one 'Tell Me Please, Is This How The West Was Won?' is a freedownload. LATE NEWS BREAKING - JUNE 2007...Gary O'Dea previous back catalogue (originally released via the Birmingham based Anew Music label) now available through GOJO' MUSIC. This includes the CD/Album 'Love Hounds & Fortune Cookies' and also the CD/EP 'Sittin' On Your Fence' (which features amongst others...Steve Gibbons / PJ Wright / Gary Lammin / Glenn Somerville etc).
2007 has so far seen Gary appear both will full band line-ups and scaled down performances plus solo performances at venues around the country ranging from small intimate little clubs to Civic Halls and Festivals around the country including The Porter Cellar Bar - Bath, 3345 Club - Liverpool, Little Civic Club and Civic Hall - Wolverhampton, Green Futures Festival - Warwickshire, Glastonbury Festival and Birmingham Arts Festival to name a few. A new solo album is planned for 2008.
For reviews and press details please visit
http://www.gojo-music.co.uk/press.php
For up to date and more indepth info on GOJO' MUSIC please visit the web-site www.gojo-music.co.uk - e-mail: [email protected] or
[email protected]
