Having spent the ‘90’s recording and touring with his band, The Lost Highway, Indiana native Otis Gibbs has become a bit of a mid-west legend. When asked what his influences are, the answer that you get isn't always what you would expect. The first to leap to mind would be names like Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff Walker, Butch Hancock or Bob Dylan, but if you dig a little deeper you start hearing names like Wim Wender, Jack Kerouac, Noam Chomsky and Gustav Klimt. Once he gets rolling, you get facts like he's bowled a 226, planted over 4500 trees, was the 5th grade yo-yo champion at Wanamaker Elementary, has an FBI file and an IQ of 142. 49th & Melancholy, Gibbs’ 3rd full -length release, is a shining example of just this sort of dichotomy. Both haunting and beautiful, 49th is a 14-song collection that illustrates just how deep and wide Gibbs’ breadth as a singer/songwriter as well as a reluctant witness to the human condition goes. Self- produced and predominately acoustic, 49th and Melancholy is a record brimming with stories of hopes and dreams, high romance and love unrequited. Stripped down, stark arrangements compliment Gibbs’ soulful but weary voice. Multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire John Byrne (Mere Mortals, Floating Men, rain chorus) adds an eerily beautiful layer to the recordings on guitar and dobro. Susan Morris provides a soothing, transcendental quality to the recordings on violin with Craig “Slim” Small contributing on fiddle and mandolin as well. Lost Highway veteran Nick McDermot rounds out the arrangements on accordion.
photo by Todd Fox |
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Otis Gibbs
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