Post by lar on Mar 10, 2019 10:37:09 GMT -5
Last night Janice and I traveled to picturesque Stoughton, WI to visit the historic (1900) Stoughton Opera House and to see and hear The Gibson Brothers concert.
As it turns out, Paleo's daughter and son-in-law live about 4 miles south of Stoughton. So he came east for the weekend and after a very nice supper hosted by said daughter and son-in-law we all made our way through half an inch or so of "wintery mix" to the fully restored opera house.
Upon getting a look at the stage I was very surprised to see two Fender Telecasters, a Gibson Les Paul,, a Fender Jaguar electric bass, a pedal steel guitar, and a full set of drums. No banjo, no fiddle, no stand-up bass. In fact, only one acoustic instrument of any kind. And who ever heard of a drum set at a bluegrass concert? I was beginning to think that I might have wandered into the wrong place.
As it turned out I got busy with other stuff and turned my back just long enough for The Gibson Brothers to go electric. Their revamped sound is very reminiscent of the "outlaw" movement in country music from the mid 60s into the 70s. Plenty of Telecaster based twang and some honky tonk mojo but this time it's matched with more thoughtful songwriting and the incredible harmonies of the brothers Gibson. It's the kind of sound Nashville might aspire to if it could turn off the horrible "write to a formula" song writing machine that dominates country music these days.
To put it simply, The Gibson Brothers and their band have gone country. My guess is that in the privacy of their hotel rooms they've always had a close connection with country music. I can't think of another explanation for their effortless transition.
I went to the show last night expecting to hear what I've always thought of as an exceptional bluegrass band. I came away believing that I had heard an exceptional country band. I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. I didn't hear as many of my Gibson Brothers bluegrass favorites as I would have like but they did sprinkle in those that fit into the new instrumentation. My long-time favorite Gibson Brothers song is "One Raindrop". Reworked as a country song it may be even better than it was before. It was the same with "In the Ground". Neither of those songs lost anything in their transition from bluegrass to country.
The material in last night's show came in large part from a couple of country covers from Buck Owens and Waylon Jennings along with a healthy dose of content from the new album. I liked all of it a lot. I didn't hear a single clunker of a song the entire evening. While there were many stand out songs throughout the performance a couple are worthy of mention. Not only have The Gibson Brothers changed from bluegrass to country they also let themselves get talked into recording the R.E.M hit "Everybody Hurts". Whoever made the suggestion deserves an award for thinking outside the box. All I can say is that I like the hell out of The Gibson Brothers version. It's outstanding.
Another stand out was "Special One". It's a romantic song with a strong 50s rock & roll vibe but performed as a country song. Combine that with stellar harmonies and you've got a winner!
If you like The Gibson Brothers and you like 70s vintage country music, this is a show I would recommend. I especially recommend it if you have the opportunity to see it in an intimate atmosphere. The Stoughton Opera House is such a venue. It's not very big. We sat in the center section of the 6th row. There were 6 seats in our section and a total of 16 seats in the entire 6th row. It appeared that even those in the balcony were relatively close to the stage.
One of the cool things about a show like this is that that after the show Eric and Leigh Gibson came into the little area that was set up for them to sell CDs. They chatted with their fans and signed autographs. I asked Leigh about his acoustic guitar. From where I was seated I couldn't tell what brand it was. He told me it's a maple Bourgeois dreadnought with a piezo pickup in the bridge. Note to Marshall; it has a beautiful sunburst finish. This YouTube video shows both Eric and Leigh playing their Bourgeois guitars. The Gibson Brothers
Acoustically, Leigh's guitar sounds great, just like a Bourgeois ought to sound. Plugged into the house sound system I thought it sounded a bit harsh with too much mid-range and treble. I much prefer the tone of his Henderson bluegrass guitars. But I ain't a big star so I guess I could be wrong.
Todd, I didn't have an opportunity to visit the bathroom. Paleo did so if you're really nice to him he might be willing to post a review.
As it turns out, Paleo's daughter and son-in-law live about 4 miles south of Stoughton. So he came east for the weekend and after a very nice supper hosted by said daughter and son-in-law we all made our way through half an inch or so of "wintery mix" to the fully restored opera house.
Upon getting a look at the stage I was very surprised to see two Fender Telecasters, a Gibson Les Paul,, a Fender Jaguar electric bass, a pedal steel guitar, and a full set of drums. No banjo, no fiddle, no stand-up bass. In fact, only one acoustic instrument of any kind. And who ever heard of a drum set at a bluegrass concert? I was beginning to think that I might have wandered into the wrong place.
As it turned out I got busy with other stuff and turned my back just long enough for The Gibson Brothers to go electric. Their revamped sound is very reminiscent of the "outlaw" movement in country music from the mid 60s into the 70s. Plenty of Telecaster based twang and some honky tonk mojo but this time it's matched with more thoughtful songwriting and the incredible harmonies of the brothers Gibson. It's the kind of sound Nashville might aspire to if it could turn off the horrible "write to a formula" song writing machine that dominates country music these days.
To put it simply, The Gibson Brothers and their band have gone country. My guess is that in the privacy of their hotel rooms they've always had a close connection with country music. I can't think of another explanation for their effortless transition.
I went to the show last night expecting to hear what I've always thought of as an exceptional bluegrass band. I came away believing that I had heard an exceptional country band. I wasn't disappointed in the slightest. I didn't hear as many of my Gibson Brothers bluegrass favorites as I would have like but they did sprinkle in those that fit into the new instrumentation. My long-time favorite Gibson Brothers song is "One Raindrop". Reworked as a country song it may be even better than it was before. It was the same with "In the Ground". Neither of those songs lost anything in their transition from bluegrass to country.
The material in last night's show came in large part from a couple of country covers from Buck Owens and Waylon Jennings along with a healthy dose of content from the new album. I liked all of it a lot. I didn't hear a single clunker of a song the entire evening. While there were many stand out songs throughout the performance a couple are worthy of mention. Not only have The Gibson Brothers changed from bluegrass to country they also let themselves get talked into recording the R.E.M hit "Everybody Hurts". Whoever made the suggestion deserves an award for thinking outside the box. All I can say is that I like the hell out of The Gibson Brothers version. It's outstanding.
Another stand out was "Special One". It's a romantic song with a strong 50s rock & roll vibe but performed as a country song. Combine that with stellar harmonies and you've got a winner!
If you like The Gibson Brothers and you like 70s vintage country music, this is a show I would recommend. I especially recommend it if you have the opportunity to see it in an intimate atmosphere. The Stoughton Opera House is such a venue. It's not very big. We sat in the center section of the 6th row. There were 6 seats in our section and a total of 16 seats in the entire 6th row. It appeared that even those in the balcony were relatively close to the stage.
One of the cool things about a show like this is that that after the show Eric and Leigh Gibson came into the little area that was set up for them to sell CDs. They chatted with their fans and signed autographs. I asked Leigh about his acoustic guitar. From where I was seated I couldn't tell what brand it was. He told me it's a maple Bourgeois dreadnought with a piezo pickup in the bridge. Note to Marshall; it has a beautiful sunburst finish. This YouTube video shows both Eric and Leigh playing their Bourgeois guitars. The Gibson Brothers
Acoustically, Leigh's guitar sounds great, just like a Bourgeois ought to sound. Plugged into the house sound system I thought it sounded a bit harsh with too much mid-range and treble. I much prefer the tone of his Henderson bluegrass guitars. But I ain't a big star so I guess I could be wrong.
Todd, I didn't have an opportunity to visit the bathroom. Paleo did so if you're really nice to him he might be willing to post a review.
