The Southgate House Revival - Sanctuary
Thu
February 16, 2023
8:00 pm
(7:00 pm DOORS)
The Gibson Brothers
$25.00
Growing up on a dairy farm in northern NewYork and then traveling around the world in abluegrass band has given them a unique vantage point on life, and the songs on “Darkest Hour”are a testament to that. “Jerry wanted to hear everything we’d written,” Eric told me, “so we justsent him songs: brand new songs, old songs, there's stuff on that record 20 years old that wenever recorded.We wanted to see what he would do with us as singer-songwriters.We respecthim that much. Some of my favorite records are Jerry Douglas produced records. He didn’tdisappoint.”If the Gibson Brothers had stayed in Nashville in 1999 they might possibly be Grand Ole Oprymembers by now.At the very least they would be hit songwriters on Music Row. But, just liketheir buddy Del McCoury, they chose family over success (McCoury was in his 50s when hemoved to Nashville and didn't really see major success until he was approaching 60).All theyneed is someone to shine a light on them.Their talent level is well-established, the onlyproducers they have ever worked with are Ricky Skaggs, DanAuerbach, David Ferguson andJerry Douglas. I dare say not many musicians can stack up a list of producers that strong. For theGibson Brothers though, they just want to keep writing, singing, and standing on a stag
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The Gibson Brothers
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There’s a reason why Ricky Skaggs pulled Eric and Leigh Gibson off the stage at the Ryman twodecades ago and offered to produce their debut record.The same thing that led David Fergusonand GrammyAward winning producer and Black Keys frontman DanAuerbach to co-write andproduce their 14th album “Mockingbird” (2018) and release it on his own label Easy Eye Soundalongside cultural icons such as HankWilliams Jr. and Dr. John:the Gibson Brothersare thereal deal.They can pick.They can sing.And they can write a damn good country song.They’vewon about every bluegrass award you can name and released albums on almost every premierAmericana label you can think of including Sugar Hill and Rounder, and, if that’s not enough,their songs have been recorded by bluegrass legends no less than Del McCoury. It’s a resumealmost anybody in country music would be proud to have. But despite all of this, the GibsonBrothers are not yet household names.Their latest album, “Darkest Hour,” produced by dobromaster Jerry Douglas might just change that.As soon as you hear Leigh singing withAlison Krauss [“I FeelThe SameWayAsYou”] on thenew project you realize that his voice is as good as anyone in music today.Add the brotherharmony to that and they have something truly unique.While “Mockingbird” featured gorgeousproduction, recreating the sound on stage was difficult. “We put together a little band to go outand try to recreate it,” Eric told me, but we couldn't.We would have to have such a huge band totry to recreate that record, but we did the best we could.”Douglas—who has won 14 Grammy awards and backed up everyone from Ray Charles to PaulSimon and George Jones—wanted to make a record they could actually play on the road. So hepicked the best songs (out of dozens) and squirreled them away in Sound Emporium’s Studio B.But then the pandemic hit. “We did our last shows in March of 2020,” Eric told me. “We were inNashville the week everything was shutting down. It was surreal, but Jerry was like, ‘Guys, theworld's going crazy. Let's let this be our little cocoon.’And we did.We cut all of the acousticstuff and then went home and didn't play any more gigs until things started opening.Then wewent back and finished the record with Jerry in February of 2021.”The result is arguably the strongest recordThe GibsonBrothershave ever made.The songsrecorded in the first recording period featured Mike Barber (bass), Justin Moses (mandolin),Eamon McGloughlin (fiddle), and of course, Jerry Douglas, adding in John Gardner (drums),GuthrieTrapp (electric guitar), andTodd Parks (bass) for the final tracks, “Darkest Hour”showcases just how easily Eric and Leigh move from what DanAuerbach dubbed “country soul”(“I Go Driving”) to high octane bluegrass (“What a DifferenceADay Makes” and “Dust”) with Douglas always keeping the spotlight on the songs themselves. “That’s what I love about thoseguys,” Douglas told me, “they are just great songwriters.”Growing up on a dairy farm in northern NewYork and then traveling around the world in abluegrass band has given them a unique vantage point on life, and the songs on “Darkest Hour”are a testament to that. “Jerry wanted to hear everything we’d written,” Eric told me, “so we justsent him songs: brand new songs, old songs, there's stuff on that record 20 years old that wenever recorded.We wanted to see what he would do with us as singer-songwriters.We respecthim that much. Some of my favorite records are Jerry Douglas produced records. He didn’tdisappoint.”If the Gibson Brothers had stayed in Nashville in 1999 they might possibly be Grand Ole Oprymembers by now.At the very least they would be hit songwriters on Music Row. But, just liketheir buddy Del McCoury, they chose family over success (McCoury was in his 50s when hemoved to Nashville and didn't really see major success until he was approaching 60).All theyneed is someone to shine a light on them.Their talent level is well-established, the onlyproducers they have ever worked with are Ricky Skaggs, DanAuerbach, David Ferguson andJerry Douglas. I dare say not many musicians can stack up a list of producers that strong. For theGibson Brothers though, they just want to keep writing, singing, and standing on a stage |
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