Gordon Gano

With his band the Violent Femmes, Gordon Gano helped define post-punk's nerdy cool face of the 1980s and '90s while also crafting himself into one of modern rock's finest singer/songwriters. Gordon James Gano was born to a Baptist minister father and a musical mother on June 6, 1963. He was one of eight children and spent his early childhood singing with his family. An appreciation for the likes of Johnny Cash, the Carter Family, Robert Johnson, and Hank Williams sparked Gano's musical interests. When Gano's family moved to Milwaukee, WI during his sixth grade year, he started playing guitar and writing songs. An excellent student in and outside of the classroom, Gano met Brian Ritchie while he was still in high school. The two immediately clicked and began making music. The infamous "Gimme the Car" incident at Gano's National Honors Society ceremony proved to be a pivotal moment for him. A rebellious side came out and Gano used it to shape the quirky, cool sounds of the Violent Femmes after he graduated from high school in 1981.

Gano spent the next two decades with the band. The Violent Femmes' self-titled debut album was the first album to achieve platinum status in America without ever making the charts. Songs like "Blister in the Sun," "Add It Up," and "Kiss Off" became cult classics.

In 1986, Gano took some time off from the Violent Femmes and joined the gospel group the Mercy Seat. He, vocalist Zena Von Heppinstall, Patrice Moran (bass/vocals), and Fernando Menendez (drums) issued the Mercy Seat's eponymous debut, their only release, in 1987. Collaborations with Ben Vaughn, An Emotional Fish, the Heads, Elliott Murphy, and John Kruth followed into the next decade as well as musical scores and soundtrack cuts.

The Violent Femmes' celebrated their 20th anniversary in 2001; a year later Gano returned with his first-ever solo album, Hitting the Ground. This particular album highlighted Gano's impeccable songwriting as well as an all-star cast of musicians: PJ Harvey, Frank Black, and Gano's childhood heroes, John Cale and Lou Reed. A second solo project, Under the Sun, appeared in 2009 from Yep Roc Records.

from Wikipedia:

Gordon James Gano (born June 7, 1963) is an American musician. He is best known for being the singer, guitarist and songwriter of American alternative rock band Violent Femmes.

Early life

Gano was born in Connecticut to actor parents Norman and Faye Gano. The family moved to Oak Creek, a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1963. His father, an American Baptist minister, opened a church in Oak Creek. Rev. Gano, an accomplished actor, formed a community theater group in Oak Creek, and Gordon appeared in many of its productions, notably "Sing Out Sweet Land" in 1974. His father played guitar, and exposed his son to a wide array of musical genres, including country and western, show tunes, and gospel. The liner notes to the band's compilation album Permanent Record describe Gano as "a devout Baptist". Older siblings from his parents' previous marriages living in the NYC area exposed the young Gano to such influences as The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, Brian Eno, Patti Smith, Jonathan Richman, and the B-52's. Gordon's garage band days began with covers of Bob Dylan, The Beatles and moved through Grateful Dead (Hunter/Garcia) songs to Lou Reed and Velvet Underground songs by 1979. Gordon began writing his own songs in the mid 70's, influenced by the vocal stylings of Lou Reed, the story-telling of Hank Williams, Sr. and the poetics of Patti Smith's "Babelogue". Given his acting background, Gordon wrote many of his songs for characters, whom he would portray while performing the associated song. In 1979 the Gano family moved to Hales Corners, where his father took over an existing American Baptist congregation. At this time Gordon began attending Milwaukee public school—Rufus King High School, from which he graduated in 1981. After graduating from high school, he worked briefly as an encyclopedia salesman.

Career

Violent Femmes

Further information: Violent Femmes

Gano formed Violent Femmes in Milwaukee in 1980 with bassist Brian Ritchie and drummer Victor DeLorenzo, in which he was a guitarist, lead singer, and songwriter. They soon developed a cult following thanks to songs such as "Blister in the Sun", "Kiss Off" and "Add It Up" (all from their self-titled debut album). The band experimented with a variety of sounds over the course of their career, such as country and western (Hallowed Ground) and pop-rock (The Blind Leading the Naked). The group briefly disbanded in 1987, but reformed, and performed together through 2007. After recording a cover of Gnarls Barkley song Crazy, the band broke up due to artistic differences, specifically commercial use of Violent Femmes songs.

Other projects

During a Violent Femmes hiatus in the late 1980s, Gano formed a gospel-punk group called The Mercy Seat with vocalist Zena Von Heppinstall, bassist Patrice Moran, and drummer Fernando Menendez. They toured internationally for two years and released one album in 1987 on Warner Music Group's Slash Records. The album was re-released digitally in 2009 on Wounded Bird Records.

He released his first solo album in 2002, titled Hitting the Ground. He shared vocal duties (singing in Portuguese) with Manuel Cruz, the lead singer of the Portuguese rock band Ornatos Violeta in the song "Capitão Romance" for the last album released before their break-up, O Monstro Precisa de Amigos in 1999. Gano also played violin on Ben Vaughn's 1990 album Dressed in Black.

As of 2011 Gano is writing, recording and performing with ex-members of The Bogmen, Billy and Brendan Ryan, under the name Gordon Gano & The Ryans. Their first album, entitled Under the Sun, was released in September 2009 on Yep Roc Records.

He is also working with The Lost Bayou Ramblers on their upcoming 2011 release.

Television

Gano played Mr. Zank, the first of many substitute mathematics teachers, in an episode of The Adventures of Pete & Pete, entitled "X=Why?"

In popular culture

Gano is mentioned in the novel The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.

Gano appears as a fictional version of himself, under a love spell, in the 1997 Sabrina, the Teenage Witch episode "Hilda and Zelda: the Teenage Years"'.

The song "Good Feeling" is featured in the "Best Prom Ever" episode of How I Met Your Mother. The song is played at a high school prom by a band called The 88.