Iron And Diamonds

Mojo (Publisher) (p.111) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "The Gibsons are at their best when, in fine, old-time fashion, they fuse dark lyrics and chipper tunes."|

Not to be confused with the punk-Americana band of the same name, the Gibson Brothers are a popular and well-regarded bluegrass act featuring actual brothers Leigh and Eric Gibson and a stellar backing band. Although steeped in the traditional goosebump-raising harmonies and lightning rhythms of bluegrass, the Gibsons are adventurous and forward-thinking in their song choices, covering Tom Petty and Steve Earle, and co-writing with country legend Roger Miller. This delightful album will please fans of both trad folk and "new grass".|

The Gibson Brothers play a low-key, emotional style of bluegrass with some country and early rock influences. Their close sibling harmonies place them firmly within the bluegrass continuum while their fine songwriting helps expand the music's parameters. "Picker's Blues" is a good example, a tune that talks about music making with a combination of pride and self-effacing humor. The instrumental prowess of the brothers and their band belies the modesty they bring to the lyric when they sing "It's all been done before..." Two voices, a simple bassline,and spare guitar chords accent "Lonely Me, Lonely You," a classic of close harmony singing, with Eric Gibson's guitar solo adding a beautiful jazzy touch to the arrangement. "It's a Long Way Down" is a perfect song of disillusion and heartache, another country-influenced track. The singer wallows in his heartache and warns his departed lover of life's perils while the music bubbles happily in the background. "Iron & Diamonds" is an autobiographical song about growing up near Lyon Mountain in the Adirondacks, a place obsessed with mining and baseball. Eric Gibson's banjo and Clayton Campbell's fiddle give the story of hard labor and broken dreams a morose, funereal mood. The tunes the Brothers choose to cover are always given surprising new arrangements. They make over Tom Petty's "Cabin Down Below" into a down-home celebration of country living while Steve Earle's "The Other Side of Town" is acoustic honky tonk music at its best, with Junior Barber's resonator guitar adding pedal steel-like fills. The brothers give Julie Miller's sardonic "Somewhere Trouble Don't Go" a bluegrass bounce that takes some of the sting out its dark lyric. "A World So Full of Love," by Roger Miller and Faron Young sports a great brokenhearted lyric and some clever wordplay. The Gibson's harmonies make the song a winner. ~ j. poet