Past event!
This event has already taken place.
Find all current events for this promoter here.
Event information
Otis last played for us in 2010 when he was very well received. He is a true troubadour traveling everywhere by train with just his guitar. This time he comes to us with a brand new album, ‘Harder Than Hammered Hell’.
Otis Gibbs is a man in search of an honest experience. Some people refer to him as a folk artist, but that is a simplistic way to describe a man who has planted over 7,000 trees, slept in hobo jungles, walked with nomadic shepherds in the Carpathian Mountains, been strip-searched by dirty cops in Detroit, and has an FBI file. Otis has played everywhere from labor rallies in Wisconsin, to anti-war protests in Texas, Austria and the Czech Republic, Feed & Seed Stores in the Midwestern U.S. and in countless, theaters, festivals, bars and living rooms. Otis has spent the last fifteen years traveling across America and abroad documenting this world, and has a story to share about each stop along the way.
Otis grew up in the rural town of Wanamaker, Indiana and started working when he was in high school and did countless crummy jobs. Eventually he got tired of working jobs that didn’t stimulate, or interest him in the least. So, in his own words, he decided to just “drop out.” Over the next four years, Gibbs earned and lived off less than $3,000 a year and had never been happier. He got rid of his car and shared apartments with artists, musicians and radicals (often living with 5 to 10 people). He also took advantage of the free time and wrote hundreds of songs. Otis sacrificed many of the comforts most of us take for granted, so that he could live a creative life.
‘Harder Than Hammered Hell’, is Otis Gibbs’ sixth album. It’s also the fourth release by Wanamaker Recording Company, the East Nashville
based independent label he started in 2008 with long time partner Amy
Lashley. The album title was inspired by experiences Otis had when he worked as a tree-planter in Indiana. Much of what he learned came
from a seventy-year-old friend/co-worker. The man would
describe ground that is too hard to dig as, “harder than hammered
hell.” He would also use the phrase when referring to a difficult job,
or a particularly tough person. Otis found it a fitting metaphor for the difficulties of leading a creative life.
The album features performances by Thomm Jutz on guitar, Mark Fain on
bass, Paul Griffith on drums and Amy Lashley on vocals. When asked
about his approach to making records Otis replied, “I’m silly enough
to believe that I’m the world’s foremost authority on what an Otis
Gibbs record should sound like. I tend to enjoy stripped down
arrangements that highlight the song and the vocal.” Jutz’ tasteful
playing style blends perfectly in this setting. Gibbs produced the
record, with Jutz engineering, making this their third collaboration.
There is a feeling of strength and perseverance that resonates throughout
this record. Otis’ work often speaks of accepting the harsh realities of life without giving into them. Songs like ‘Never Enough’, ‘Made To
Break’ and ‘Broke And Restless’ are a reflection of that spirit.
Otis currently resides in Nashville, Tennessee with his long time girlfriend, Amy Lashley, their dog and two cats. Recently, he’s been examining ways of using bird feeding as a form of civil disobedience.
Venue information
TINGEWICK: Village Hall| 0 | Near Buckingham Tingewick MK18 4NN |
|---|---|
| > | www.empty-rooms.com |
| ! | 01296 748268 |
