Otis Gibbs (USA)

Event Information

Otis Gibbs is a songwriter, storyteller, painter, photographer, and planter of 7,176 trees. He once wrestled a bear and lost. He’s been called “the best unknown songwriter in music today,” but if you ask him, he’ll just say he’s a folksinger.

The Trust Of Crows, his tenth studio album, was recorded at the iconic Columbia Studio A in Nashville, where Bob Dylan made Blonde on Blonde and Nashville Skyline. It’s been closed to the public for decades, but Otis was given permission to record there.

Gibbs’ storytelling extends beyond music to his YouTube channel, where more than 100,000 subscribers listen to tales and folklore passed down by legendary musicians. In an effort to preserve these personal stories before they’re lost to history, he single handedly built a living archive in the spirit of The Lomax Family, Studs Terkel or even Charles Kuralt. This deeply personal project reflects Otis’ reverence for history, lived experience, and the characters who shaped American roots music from the ground up.

“Gibbs has been likened to everyone from Guthrie to Springsteen — but his is the rare voice that stands on its own” ESQUIRE
“Gibbs’ songwriting is deeply personal and profound. It’s plain to see Otis Gibbs is a man you should give a damn about” ROLLING STONE
“Man, can this singer tell a story” USA TODAY

​Back when Greg Brice played the pubs, clubs and bars of the West Midlands he'd often find some of the toughest audiences you could imagine hanging on his every word within a few bars. His intricate fingerstyle guitar and strident electric slide connected in the raw and immediate way that only proper roots music can. And that voice – clear as a bell, powerful and pure.

'a virtuoso guitarist who sings like Lowell George, you're gonna like him' ANDY KERSHAW