Gordon Bok Appears at Friday Night Folk at All Souls; Willoughby Gap Opens

Gordon Bok:
Gordon Bok found his first music in his own dooryard. His family sang Scots, German, Italian, Australian and American traditional and popular songs — all learned in places they had lived. As he began to work the boats along his coast, he heard the songs of the Maritimes, and ballads and chanteys from around the world.  Gordon has written, sung, and helped to preserve the heritage of of the working waterman of the Northeast, hence his honorary Doctorate from the Maine Maritime Academy.

Gordon grew up around the boatyards of Camden, Maine. In his early years, he worked on a variety of vessels, from passenger schooners to yachts. He learned many tunes, sea songs, stories, legends and ballads from the people he worked with. Where he couldn't find songs that matched his experiences or needs, he began to write his own, and has kept up a lively flow of poems, songs, stories, choral and instrumental works. He has He has performed extensively in the United States, and in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. He has appeared on the radio show "A Prairie Home Companion" with Garrison Keillor. Gordon's music has been sung by many other performers and has been used for films, most notably the documentary "Coaster: The Adventure of the John F. Leavitt" for which he won an award. Gordon received an honorary Doctorate of Science from the Maine Maritime Academy for his reflection of Maine's maritime heritage in his compositions and performances. His legacy includes over thirty recordings featuring his own compositions and folk tunes from around the world. His extensive repertoire provides a rich well to draw upon for his concerts; he has never sung the same solo concert twice.

Willoughby Gap:

Willoughby Gap is an acoustic band rooted in bluegrass and mountain folk music. The band, which gets its name from a mountain gap in Vermont, sings and plays traditional and original songs of life and death in the old Appalachian style. The band includes the lead and harmony vocals of Terry Salter who, with a voice like a clear mountain stream, is accompanied by Eben Salter on the guitar, mandolin and vocals, and frequently joined by Nate Salter, who happens to be their son, on guitar. With influences like the Carter Family, Bill Monroe and Gillian Welch, Willoughby Gap is sure to please their audiences with original and traditional songs comprised of innovative harmonies and novel arrangements that touch the heart and soul of the listener.

Eben and Terry have enjoyed 34 years of marriage; they met at choir rehearsal in Preston. Though they have always played songs together, they got serious in 2002 when they formed the six-piece bluegrass outfit, Second Circle. The band played traditional music for the Milford Arts Council, the Mineral Springs Festival in Stafford Springs, and the Hartford Cultural Center. By 2008, however, Eben decided to leave the band to pursue a new course in music.

Though Terry has no formal musical training, she grabs the harmonies to Eben’s words as second nature. Eben’s approach to writing music is anything but casual.  Over the last few years, he has been crafting a selection of originals, distinguished by subjects like love gone by and opportunities lost, wedding his words with traditional folk/bluegrass music stylings. Topics for his songs include love, death and missed opportunities.  

Right now, the three of them have performed the songs at various "open mikes" in the area. Eben has already taken the steps of copywriting his lyrics, and he is talking with some New London producers about an album.