Eric Gibson’s one-night stand

With Leigh Gibson running off to join a bluegrass supergroup, older brother Eric is planning a solo tour.

Calm down, everybody. It’s just for one night.

Leigh is heading for Huron, S.D., this weekend for some pheasant hunting and a Tuesday night benefit concert by The Pheasant Band, in which Leigh will pick and sing with Barry Bales, Jason Carter, Jim Mills and others.

Eric will use the rare free weekend to play a coffeehouse-style gig Saturday night at the Busco Dome, part of Dick’s Country Store and Music Oasis in Churubusco, N.Y. “I knew I had a weekend off, so I thought I’d play some music,” Eric said.

Dick’s advertises itself as a purveyor of “groceries, gas, guns and guitars.” But it’s much more than that for native sons Eric and Leigh. The Music Oasis is where they took their first music lessons, and where Eric held a part-time job. “That was our big hangout when we were kids,” he said, noting the main attraction was hundreds of guitars.

Eric says he’ll play mostly original material, primarily on guitar, but with a couple of banjo tunes thrown in.

The Gibson Brothers are wrapping up what is arguably their best year ever, touring in support of IBMA album of the year Help My Brother and getting ready to start work on their next project. But after years of touring as a band, the solo gig is something new for Eric. “I’m not used to being up there by myself,” he told me. “It’ll be nerve-wracking. It’s just going to be me, and hopefully that will be good enough.”

Somehow, it seems certain it will be.

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About the Author

David Morris

David Morris, an award-winning songwriter and journalist, has written for Bluegrass Today since its inception. He joined its predecessor, The Bluegrass Blog, in 2010. His 40-year career in journalism included more than 13 years with The Associated Press, a stint as chief White House correspondent for Bloomberg News, and several top editing jobs in Washington, D.C. He is a life member of IBMA and the DC Bluegrass Union. He and co-writers won the bluegrass category in the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at MerleFest in 2015.