B.C.’s own David Gogo, who is recognized as one of the best blues guitarists in Canada, will be bringing his immense musical talent to the Elks Hall in Osoyoos for a solo gig on Wednesday, Nov. 1. Gogo has won multiple Maples Blues Awards as Canada’s best blues guitarist. (Publicity photo)

David Gogo has a very appropriate name as the man considered Canada’s finest blues guitar player is always on the go.

Gogo, who has spent most of his life based out of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, is bringing his brilliant guitar skills to Osoyoos on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at the Osoyoos Elks Hall. A multiple Canadian Maples Blues Award winner as Canada’s best blues guitarist, Gogo’s Osoyoos show will feature just him on acoustic guitar.

Gogo also has his own band based out of British Columbia, another band he plays with regularly out of Ottawa when he tours eastern Canada and a third unit based out of Holland.

Between his three bands and solo gigs, Gogo regularly plays more than 200 gigs a year and his concert in Osoyoos will be in the middle of a three-month tour of British Columbia.

“If you want to make a living as a musician … you have to get out and play, so I get out and play,” said Gogo, whose passion for music and life comes across clearly during a recent phone interview from Vancouver.

Gogo’s love for music goes back to his early youth growing up in a family where his parents were always playing music in the house.

“I was just a tiny baby when my parents got me a toy guitar,” he said. “They got me a ukulele when I was just a kid and I learned how to play that before getting my first real guitar.

“I was playing professionally by the time I was 15 playing teen dances at local high schools … and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

While he has always listened to a wide variety of music, Gogo said he quickly gained an affection for rock music that was heavily influenced by American blues artists.

“I listened to a lot of different stuff and I still do, but I always gravitated towards the blues or rock bands with blues influences … so I really liked a lot of the British bands like The Kinks, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.”

While most of his 14 albums have sold reasonably well in Canada, Gogo quickly acknowledges you can’t make a decent living as a blues musician in this country or anywhere else without performing in concert on a regular basis.

“There are hardly any more record stores,” he said. “My goal was always to sell enough records and merchandise just to break even, but you make your living on the road playing music in front of audiences.”

One of the highights of his life is meeting and sharing the stage with some of the most legendary blues guitarists and singer-songwriters in history, said Gogo.

At age 15, he met the legendary Texas superstar Stevie Ray Vaughan backstage at the Royal Theatre in Victoria and was encouraged by Vaughan to pursue a career in the blues.

By age 16, he was getting regular work as a travelling musician as he formed a band called The Persuaders, That band opened for such legendary blues performers such as Johnny Winter, Buddy Guy and Albert Collins. He performed at the Montreaux Jazz Festival with the likes of B.B. King, Otis Rush and Blues Traveller.

“Being able to share the stage with the blues legends I grew up listening to and admiring is something I’ll never forget,” he said. “I knew I had made it when I got to meet guys like B.B. King and the great Albert Collins, who is my personal guitar hero. To be on the stage with guys like that is just pretty damn cool.”

When asked if he ever gets tired of travelling and touring, Gogo said it hasn’t happened yet.

“It’s what I do … it’s what I signed up for when I became a professional musician,” he said. “It’s a hard job because you’re away from home a lot, but this is a business where you’re only going to survive if you’re willing to work hard.”

Being the leader of three different bands and also playing many solo gigs keeps things fresh and the adrenaline rush he first got as a teenager when he hits the stage to perform have never diminished, he said.

While he has performed in Penticton and Kelowna on multiple occasions in the past, Gogo said he’s looking forward to performing in Osoyoos for the first time.

“I’ve done some wine tasting and wine touring in that area, but I’ve never played there before and I’m looking forward to it because it’s a beautiful part of the world,” he said.

Gogo’s passion for music has been passed down to his teenage son.

“He started out as a drummer, but recently learned how to play guitar because he just turned 18 and wants to write songs,” he said.”

Tickets for Gogo’s show at the Elks Hall are available at Mills Office Pro on Main Street in Osoyoos.

The concert on Nov. 1 will begin at 7:30 p.m.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times