By Chris Stuart

In February of this year, the Gibson Brothers’ album “Ring The Bell” (Compass Records) went to #1 on this magazine’s radio airplay album chart, extending to five a streak of consecutive Gibson Brothers albums that reached the position. It’s richly deserved, but still an astonishing achievement for a band that keeps such an even-keeled—and humble—attitude toward the music business.

The Gibson Brothers

The brothers and the band are what’s called in baseball “five-tool” players. They have it all: lead vocals, brother-duet harmony, instrumental virtuosity, ensemble sensibilities, and great original material.

With their four-record deal with Sugar Hill Records running out in 2008 after their “Iron & Diamonds” album, Eric and Leigh decided to look around and soon found an interest at Compass Records, a label founded and operated by Alison Brown and Garry West. Alison recalls, “We did a show with the Gibson Brothers for Roger Moss at the East Hartford Cultural Center a few years ago, and I became an instant fan.  I think they are important standard-bearers for the “Yankee” tradition in bluegrass, following in the footsteps of Joe Val, Don Stover, and others who have brought a unique New Englander’s perspective to the music. On top of that, they are two of the nicest people I know, and it’s a great pleasure to watch their success.” Garry West adds, “At Compass, our taste in bluegrass leans toward the pure, original, and unique voices. The Gibson Brothers, with their classic songwriting style and brother harmonies, have all this in spades. We’re very proud to be working with them.”

Eric Gibson, on banjo, is slightly less than a year older than Leigh, on guitar, which makes them seem almost like twins, not so much because of family similarity, but because they have similar senses of humor, they enjoy the same kinds of music, and they end up hanging out together on the road and jamming with each other, the band, and other musicians. It’s hard to think of another brother act that gets along so well. Perhaps, as Leigh jokes, “It’s because we haven’t made enough money to fight over.”

While a lot of folks think they live (or lived) in Nashville, they’ve been able to stay in the region where they grew up—on a dairy farm in upstate New York. They are both strong family people and have stayed close to their roots and relatives. Eric lives in Brainardsville, N.Y., with his wife Corina and two sons, Kelley (13) and Kieran (10). Since 1998, Leigh has lived in Scotia, N.Y., near Albany, with his wife Alison and their three kids, Jack (5), Annie (3), and Joe (2). According to Leigh, “It’s the most important job I have, to make them happy.”

Looking back on their first album (of nine), “Underneath A Harvest Moon” (recorded in 1994 on their own label, now out-of-print) and their three albums for Hay Holler Records, you can see two fresh-faced kids in their twenties, excited about music and following their dream. But, while the album covers on their four subsequent chart-topping albums on Sugar Hill are more professional and hint at artists becoming more complex and eclectic, Eric and Leigh are still excited by music and are still following their dream. Leigh says, “I’ve never really considered getting out of music. Thank God we’re able to raise and maintain families and still do this.”

Their upbringing took place in the rolling hills and glacier-dug bottomland of upstate New York. They grew up waking early to farm chores, but I can imagine they played a few pranks on each other back then. Their work ethic still shows in their approach to the music business. They get it done, but they have fun doing it. And, they’ve established themselves as a top-tier act that appeals to hard-core bluegrass fans as well as to a broad audience who like their brother-duo sound and original songs.

Songwriting is something they’ve done from early on in their career. Both Leigh and Eric admire the songwriting scope of bands such as Blue Highway, the SteelDrivers, and Claire Lynch, and they’re in the same category—consistently writing and recording high-quality material. It’s no wonder they top the charts. They move people.

They’re also one of the few bands that constantly and consistently listen for new material. Two songs (“I Know Whose Tears” and “Jericho”) by old-time banjoist and songwriter Joe Newberry made it onto their latest album because the brothers recognize great songwriting when they hear it. Eric says, “We met Joe Newberry at Augusta Heritage Bluegrass Week [Elkins, W.Va.] when we were teaching there in 2008. What a good relationship that’s turned out to be. He’s an amazing songwriter, and we found material just by being there. And, we found the title song, ‘Ring The Bell,’ when we played a club in Muncie, Indiana, and an opening band played it. I went up to the lead singer, Chet O’Keefe, and said, ‘I thought I’d heard all the great gospel songs, but where did that one come from?’ He said, ‘I wrote it.’”

Yet, it’s their own material that makes the Gibson Brothers stand apart from other bands. On the new album, “Farm Of Yesterday” (by Eric) and “Bottomland” (by Leigh) both deal with the trials of farming and of families, but is approached in different ways. “Bottomland” was originally recorded on a never-released project the brothers had done for Skaggs Family Records and the first version, apparently, had a full country band behind it. But, this new track, done acoustic style, is truly moving. Leigh used his own experience of his father working long into the evening on the farm. Eric’s “Farm Of Yesterday” is also a tribute to his father, who suffered a heart attack in early 2009. (Thankfully, he’s doing better now and was able to hear the song on the new album).

Katy Daley of The Katy Daley Show on BluegrassCountry.org has been a big fan and supporter of the Gibson Brothers from early on. “Both Leigh and Eric are exceptional songwriters,”she says. “Of course, you have to mention their harmony singing right up front. I wish more people would really listen to their song arrangements. The music is layered and textured, enhancing the lyrics and bringing the brother-duet tradition into the twenty-first century. I love what they’re contributing to bluegrass.”

The pair has also begun to co-write when they stop by Nashville. Eric says, “For a time, we would avoid Nashville, but we have a lot of friends there and we’ve learned to take advantage of our time in that town. We record there, and we’ve also started co-writing with people like Tim O’Brien, Gary Nicholson, Jon Weisberger, and Mike Henderson. I found with co-writing, if you go in with an open mind and don’t put pressure on yourself, it can be fun.”

Their touring schedule has stayed steady at 10-15 days a month for the past few years; bookings agents are Paul Lohr and Jake Kennedy at New Frontier Touring. One of the ways the band has been able to build a following across the country is the willingness to play the small clubs and venues around anchor gigs in order to make new fans. Leigh says, “If you ever want to try to grow your bookings, it just doesn’t appear out of thin air. You’re not going to see as good a [pay] the first time into a club, but the next time it gets better.” Eric adds, “We don’t try to stay away from small venues. If we have anchor dates and they’re on the way, I just say to the guys, ‘If we have a chance to play, let’s play,’ and we’ve played a lot more in the last few years.”

Still, there are natural ups and downs in the music business. Bassist Mike Barber calls 2007 the year of the “Great Gig Scare.” For some reason, they weren’t playing as much, maybe because they didn’t have a release to support or maybe just because of the vagaries of the music business. “I don’t know why,” Eric says. “Some years are up and some down.” But, where stress might make other bands break up or change their sound, the brothers treated it as just another bump in the road and kept going.

They had made a decision in 2005 to go to a full five-piece band, but by 2007, Eric says, “We thought we might have to do more work as a duo or as a trio. But then, the album did really well and the bookings starting coming back.”

Their latest release, “Ring The Bell,” is a full band album using their touring band of Mike Barber on bass, Clayton Campbell on fiddle, and Joe Walsh on mandolin. “Our last two years have been our best,” according to Eric. “The band just loves to play. Mike is the glue in our band. He’s like his dad [resonator guitarist, Junior Barber]. When Junior was in the band, he was just a fanatic about achieving tone. Mike’s that way. Joe Walsh has been with us about a year and he’s just hungry. He can’t wait to get that mandolin out of the case. Clayton’s been with us five years now and I think he’s hit a new level of playing. All the guys pride themselves on backup work. When it’s their turn to shine, they shine, but they support the song.”

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