1 	Travelin' Day 	3:25
2 	Cool Drink Of Water 	3:43
3 	Love The Land 	3:30
4 	Sweet Lucinda 	2:46
5 	Special One 	3:39
6 	Lay Your Body Down 	2:32
7 	So Much Love In My Baby's Eyes 	2:27
8 	Come Down 	3:09
9 	Everybody Hurts 	3:48
10 	I'm A Better Man 	3:15
11 	Not Gonna Be Tonight 	3:17

Leigh Gibson - vocals, guitar
Eric Gibson - vocals, banjo, guitar
Mike Barber - bass
Clayton Campbell - fiddle
Jesse Brock - mandolin

If this music we call “Americana” has shown us one thing, it’s the fact that country- and rock-tinged musicians need to increasingly change their approach. There’s no “traditional” sound in modern music. With that need to adopt in mind, the new release from the Gibson Brothers, Mockingbird (Easy Eye Sound), largely trades in the sound that won Eric and Leigh Gibson two International Bluegrass Music Association Entertainer of the Year Awards for a sleeker, late 60s/early 70s vibe.

Produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and Fergie Ferguson (Johnny Cash, Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers), the album draws from a number of early country-rock influences. “Cool Drink of Water” recalls an early Eagles tune, complete with a road trip and a beautiful companion in the passenger seat – “I’m so crazy thirsty ‘bout to lose my mind.” “Lay Your Body Down” has a more aggressive rock sound, while “Special One” has an almost doo-wop feel to go with the steel guitar.

There’s some traditional country in the mix, too. “Sweet Lucinda” carries a honky-tonk vibe, complete with banjo and mouth harp. Slide work (including guitarist Billy Sanford) is a highlight throughout the album, especially on “Come Down”, a tale of waiting on that one woman to make up her mind: “I could wait forever/Better late than never/But the sooner, the better.”

One of the surprising departures on the album is an out-of-nowhere cover of R.E.M.’s early 90s weeper “Everybody Hurts”. Their take trades in Michael Stipe’s harrowing vocals for a more relaxed, lusher approach, complete with simple, sunny harmonies, keys, horns, and (yes) handclaps. It probably won’t have you crawling out of your car and walking down a jammed-up highway like the original, but it’ll leave you feeling more hopeful than distraught.

Two standout originals bookend the album. “Travelin’ Day”, written by the brothers with Ferguson, reflects the losses that all three men felt upon the death of a loved one. Backed by piano, acoustic, and slide guitar, the song both mourns leaving and celebrates moving on: “I’m as good as gone…But I’m ready to go home.” The final cut on the record, “Not Gonna Be Tonight”, has the singer promising to give up drinking – “Someday I’ll change my ways/Walk out of this haze” – but there’s no commitment to back up the promise. It’s a much different – and more honest – take on your typical country drinkin’ song.

Mockingbird was written and recorded in Nashville. The album also features the work of Gene Chrisman (drums), Bobby Wood (keys), and the Flaming Lips’ Derek Brown on slide guitar on “Everybody Hurts”. ---americanahighways.org

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1 	Highway 	3:07
2 	Homemade Wine 	3:11
3 	Remember Who You Are 	2:59
4 	Making Good Time 	3:05
5 	My Quiet Mind 	4:07
6 	I Can't Breathe Deep Yet 	3:32
7 	Fool's Hill 	3:29
8 	Friend Of Mine 	2:57
9 	Little Girl 	4:11
10 	I Found A Church Today 	2:42
11 	Look Who's Crying 	3:39
12 	Everywhere I Go 	4:01
13 	In The Ground 	4:55

Banjo, Lead Vocals, Harmony Vocals – Eric Gibson
Bass – Mike Barber
Fiddle – Clayton Campbell
Guitar, Lead Vocals, Harmony Vocals – Leigh Gibson
Mandolin, Harmony Vocals – Jesse Brock
Resonator Guitar [Resophonic] – Rob Ickes

The family band is a longstanding conceit of bluegrass and mountain music, including the Carters, the Osbornes, the McReynolds, the Whites, The Stanleys and even the progenitors of bluegrass Bill and Charlie Monroe. The trope continues to the present with The Gibson Brothers carrying on this tradition admirably.

The Gibson Brothers, Leigh and Eric, exemplify the power and depth of this music tradition. "In The Ground" cements their position in the bluegrass world. It's a real musical success.

The collection has a feeling of subversive traditionalism. The songs are written in a traditional style, with relatively simple instrumentation. But there is something under the surface that suggests that The Gibson Brothers are onto something bigger than just their own retelling of the bluegrass journey.

"Making Good Time" exemplifies this. It's a rolling picking tune with a Del McCoury-like lead vocal. But in its tight structure, a message of uncertainty and heedless purpose peeks through: "We don't know where we're going. But we sure are making good time."

Leigh Gibson's vocal on "My Quiet Mind" is rich and textured. The band calls upon Rob Ickes' Dobro licks to bring the tune to life (as is the case on many cuts on "In The Ground"), but the song, although simple in structure, displays a darkness in tone. ('Everyone listens to voices sometimes"). "Fools Hill" mines a similar vein: traditional sounds but a bleak view of life.

This is the second release of the Gibson Brothers with their estimable mandolinist Jesse Brock. Whilst not diverting the listener from the smooth musicianship of the actual brothers named Gibson, Brock's tasty licks and counterpoint contribute uniquely to the aural texture of this work. Mike Barber, who has played bass for the band for nearly a quarter century, and fiddler Clayton Campbell enrich "In The Ground" throughout.

The Gibson's métier is bluegrass music, but their gift is harmony. The brothers' ability to match their voices has been a Gibson feature for years, but they are in uniquely fine voice here. And, the harmony is not only sweet, but brave, contending on equal footing with the Everly Brothers on the stirring "Highway" as well as "I Can't Breathe Deep Yet." It's anybody's guess whether there is still a market for an Everly sound, but if there is, The Gibson Brothers are delivering the goods. ---Fred Frawley, countrystandardtime.com

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