He still hasn’t reached his fortieth birthday, but blues guitarist, singer/songwriter David Gogo has twice been named Maple Blues Guitarist of the Year in his native Canada, and this spring his current album Acoustic: Official Bootleg Series- Volume 2 was nominated for a Juno Award, the nation’s equivalent of a Grammy. In 2004, the blues man 
was named as the recipient of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s, Great Canadian Blues Award for his lifetime contribution to blues music in Canada. Past recipients of the award have including such luminaries such as David Wilcox, Colin James, Sue Foley and Long John Baldry. Gogo’s career began as a fourteen year-old, in the Vancouver Island city of Nanaimo, British Columbia located on Canada’s west coast.
In a country better known for its contribution of jazz, rock and country artists to the international music scene, the only thing missing from Gogo’s resume is recognition south of the 49th parallel, although that too may soon change as he is attracting more attention from American audiences. In 2006 Gogo introduced his CD Skeleton Key to the US market, an album originally released in Canada during 2002. “We just felt that Skeleton Key was too strong not to put out in the US, even though it was a couple of years old,” says Gogo, “I think that was the right choice. In Canada we had lots of coverage for the cover of the Depeche Mode tune “Personal Jesus,” which at the time was kind of unique, but after I released my album there was a Johnny Cash cover. We also had success with “(Just Ask) Jesse James.” There have been people who have chosen “Skeleton Key” (the title track) as their wedding song,” he says recounting the early success that the album Skeleton Key enjoyed.
Gogo estimates that during the past two years he has probably opened about twenty or so concerts for Johnny Winter, gigs that opened the door for him to receive an invitation in 2006 to perform at the Pittsburgh Blues Festival. The CD Skeleton Key was well received, and in addition to several standing ovations that he received, the CD garnered good sales at the Pennsylvania festival. This summer’s highlights will include an appearance at the Rochester International Jazz Festival in New York state on June 15 and an August 11 gig at the Bayfront Blues Festival in Duluth Minnesota.
When American audiences hear Gogo’s music this summer they may be wondering what has taken the artist so long to crack the US market, however a quick examination of border policies between Canada and the US exposes a significant disparity in reciprocity as it relates to the music industry. Gogo explains, “For American artists coming to Canada it is not a problem because it is considered a cultural event and they do not require work papers, however for us to enter into the United States as Canadians they require a ridiculous amount of time. It used to be thirty days notice but now they want ninety days and it has gone as high as one hundred and twenty days. “
