Victor V. Gurbo – The Ballad of Renée Nicole Good

I always wanted to see America. Like millions of others, I grew up with that huge, slightly ridiculous dream fed by films, music, highways, and places whose names somehow sounded familiar before I had ever been there. Then January 7, 2026 arrived. Renée Nicole Macklin Good, a 37-year-old US citizen and mother of three, was fatally shot by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

After that, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to go anymore. But a few days ago I met Victor V. Gurbo and heard The Ballad of Renée Nicole Good. Suddenly, America dropped a few places on my travel list. But enough about my travel plans. Let’s find out more about Victor V. Gurbo and the song that brought us here.

Renée Nicole Macklin Good was 37, originally from Colorado Springs, and had studied English at Old Dominion University. She had lived in Kansas City and Canada before moving to Minneapolis. She was a writer, a poet and a mother of three.

Two minutes on Portland Avenue

Victor V. Gurbo wastes precious little time decorating the story. The lyrics tell us it’s 9:35 on Portland Avenue, and Renée says, “I’m not mad at you.” From there, Gurbo tells the story almost minute by minute through the shooting and the aftermath.

The lyrics tell the story as it happened, with names, places and details. For me, the simple arrangement works perfectly here. There’s already a lot to take in from the lyrics, so keeping the music simple was a good choice.

The black-and-white video, created by Ilya Popenko, keeps things equally simple, with Victor V. Gurbo on vocals and acoustic guitar, Mark Caserta on electric guitar and Katie Chambers on cello.

I told Victor when I first heard it that I was sad a song like this had to exist. I still feel the same, but there’s something positive in seeing an artist speak up, take a stand and use his music for something he believes in.

A Little More About Victor V. Gurbo

Victor V. Gurbo has spent years making folk, blues and country music, with plenty of New York in his sound. Over the years, he’s performed everywhere from smaller venues to Carnegie Hall and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The collaboration with Mark Caserta goes back to the 2020 lockdown, when making music from home became their way of keeping busy.

They ended up recording more than 100 songs together, and some of that work later became the 2025 album Outrun the Invisible Man (Home Recordings, Volume I). These days, Gurbo and Caserta are also working on protest songs about America, its history and what’s happening there right now.

Music for a Good Cause

The Ballad of Renée Nicole Good became a finalist in When Voices Rise: A New Generation of Protest Music and received a live performance slot at Joe’s Pub in New York on August 21. The track arrived on August 19 as a free release. Instead of asking listeners to buy it, Gurbo directs them towards supporting the Immigrant Defense Project.

That feels like the right final verse to me: hear the story, think about it, then decide what you want to do with what you heard.

I’ve just realised this might be the greyest article I’ve ever published on Groover City. Looking at Victor’s black-and-white photos and thinking about the story behind the song, though, I really couldn’t imagine it any other way. But one day, I hope those colours will be back.

Want to hear more from Victor V. Gurbo? You’ll find his music and everything else here. As for me, I still want to see America one day. I just hope that when I finally get there, it gives me a few better stories to bring home.

Photos: Ilya Popenko

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