Amid the despair, John Gorka's very funny

Singer-songwriter John Gorka kicked off the 2007-2008 Club Jaeb series earlier tonight with two sets of the best material from his 20-year-plus career. We expected heartbreaking lyrics from the lovesick poet. What we didn't expect was for him to unleash his inner stand-up comic.

Looking up lyrics in a folder of loose sheets, he said, "the search engine is working."

(When he knocked the same folder over, scattering the lyric sheets to the stage, someone responded, "Your hard drive crashed.")

Gorka also claimed to have gone through a blues singer phase, embracing the sound of the "Pennsylvania delta," and being billed as Slow Blind Driveway.

We loved having Gorka play our tiny little corner of the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, and from his comments on stage and off, he loved it too.

You can get the remaining four Club Jaeb concerts, plus the Roches' holiday concert in the Ferguson next door for just $80. Call the Ticket Office at 229.STAR after noon Tuesday and tell 'em "Michael sent me."

Next up is Jonatha Brooke on Nov. 5. We also have Jennifer O'Connor, Bethany and Rufus and Amy Speace scheduled in the Jaeb.

If you're not familiar with some of these artists, that's your fault, but you can fix it easily by going to their show pages on this very site, where you'll find links to their own sites. Thanks also to WMNF for playing so much of this music.

And don't forget the wonderful Rosanne Cash, playing the Ferguson on March 2. She's not part of the series, but if you like Club Jaeb, you won't want to miss Rosanne in concert.

Thanks to everyone who came out tonight.

See you next time. -- Michael K/TBPAC