otis gibbs: Recent Episodes
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This photo is a self portrait I did a few weeks ago in Terre Haute, Indiana. I got up around 4:30 in the morning and started fumbling around. Amy asked what I was doing and I mumbled something about art, Terre Haute and the beauty of decay. At this point she’s heard quite a few of my speeches, so she just went back to sleep and let my mania play out. I drove to Terre Haute from Indianapolis in hopes of catching the sunrise over the Wabash. All the way there, I kept imagining what Terre Haute was like when Scatman Crothers was still singing on street corners for tips. When record pressing plants were working non stop to fill American record collections. When Eugene Debs sided with an alleged prostitute against the church. When Sinatra brought down the house at The Indiana Theater.
I got there in time to see the sunrise and walked around in the rain for a while. I’m happy with my photo, but that’s not really the point. The most important part of making art (to me), is the excitement of actually doing the thing. It’s fun to get up early and have all of these ideas and possibilities running through your head. Walking around and being lost in your thoughts while attempting to make something. It doesn’t really matter if you made some great piece of art. What matters is that you enjoyed the process of doing it.
I made a video that day that, maybe you’ve already seen it on my youtube channel?
If you’re still reading this, thank you. Maybe you joined one of those record and tape clubs where you get ten albums for a penny? If you did, those records and tapes were pressed in Terre Haute.
Much love to y’all,
-Otis
When I first moved to Nashville, I got an email from John Lomax wanting to buy some CDs. I figured it was some other John Lomax, it couldn’t be THE John Lomax. Low and behold, a few hours later, there… Continue Reading →
Otis shares stories and anecdotes about the songs and the making of his new album, Hoosier National. Here’s the link to the pre-sale! https://igg.me/at/OtisGibbs/x/17363880#/
Hey friends, did you hear the one about the beat up idealistic folk singer who picked up a 50 year old electric guitar and plugged it straight into a 60 year old amplifier? They say he set out to make… Continue Reading →
Back in 2013, I got a call from Todd Snider saying he wanted to be on my podcast. He insisted that it had to happen right then. It was a strange request, but I said cool. He showed up after… Continue Reading →
The great, Mac Wiseman was standing on the side of the stage when Hank Williams made his Grand Ole Opry debut. He was with Hank when he wrote I’m So Lonesome I could Cry. He attended parties at Hank’s house… Continue Reading →
A few years ago, I got caught in a late night speed trap in a small town in rural Texas. This is the story of how Ray Wylie Hubbard got me out of that ticket. Ray works in mysterious ways.… Continue Reading →
I’m throwing this out there for anyone who might need a video of me singing a song about a giant catfish. Not just any catfish, but the infamous Big Whiskers. This song was released into the wild about 8 or… Continue Reading →
107 years ago today, Mother Jones was the guest speaker at a rally held on a farm just outside of Indianapolis. She was 84 years old and had just been released from prison in Charleston, West Virginia, where she served… Continue Reading →
About ten years ago, I bought a 1971 Fender Champ off of David Olney. In this video, I talk about my love for Silverface Champ’s and my many interactions with David Olney throughout the years. David and I weren’t super… Continue Reading →
This is a video about my grandfather’s 1964 Fender Mustang. He had a lot of old guitars and they were all in terrible shape. When he passed away, I decided I’d make an attempt to get as many of them… Continue Reading →
The title pretty much says it all. Back in the mid 90s, I got into a scuff with some frat boys out in front of a bar called The Patio in Indianapolis. They were pissing in the middle of the… Continue Reading →
A couple of years ago, I heard about a squirrel named Shorty that once lived outside the Smith County Courthouse in Tyler, Texas. He was beloved by the town and was given a proper funeral when he died of old… Continue Reading →
My buddy, Todd Fox helped me film this. Today would have been Walt Whitman’s 201st birthday, so I decided to talk about what he meant to me at a younger age. I also read from section 32 of Song Of… Continue Reading →
A true story about Johnny Cash trying to shake my hand in a dark alley behind The Vogue in Indianapolis. Please help me spread the word by sharing this on social media and telling your friends about it. Thank ya… Continue Reading →
Hey friends, I have some not so great news that I need to share with ya. My UK Tour that was scheduled for July 2020 is not gonna happen. We’d hoped upon hope that things would get better and we… Continue Reading →
David Grier shares his memories of Bill Monroe including a tour bus full of chickens, fist fights and a ton of great music.
Otis talks abut his dream of starting an Alt Country Retirement Community and returning home.
My earliest childhood memory is my grandpa playing music with his friends on New Years Eve 1969-70. Exactly 50 years later, I sat around and played that same guitar with my friends on New Years Eve 2019-20. Here’s to good… Continue Reading →
Jim Rooney talks about riding with John Prine through Paradise, Kentucky in a red 1949 Ford.
Otis talks about visiting the graves or William S. Burroughs, Bob Wills, Sam Kinisin, Gram Parsons, Mozart, Falco and more.
Jason talks about his old friend, Jack Emerson. Jack helped kickstart the careers of Jason and the Scorchers, the Georgia Satellites, John Hiatt, Webb Wilder, Sonny Landreth, Steve Forbert and many others.
The Time Jumpers’, Andy Reiss has played on thousands of sessions. On this episode, he shares the story of his first session in Nashville with the great, Slim Pickens.
Hey friends, it's time for me to head across the big pond. I'll be singing songs, telling stories and lowering property… Posted by Otis Gibbs on Friday, October 12, 2018
David Grier is a 3 time IBMA Guitar Player Of The Year and he talks about how the great, Clarence White befriended him when he was a kid.
Kenny Vaughan talks about Denver in the 60’s and 70s and the iconic music venue, Ebbets Field.
We filmed this at Slaid Cleaves’ home in Wimberley, Texas. My old school Austin friends will enjoy hearing Slaid talk about Butch Hancock’s old store, Lubbock Or Leave It. If you have any stories about Lubbock Or Leave It, please… Continue Reading →
The short version: I made this video while visiting a few Robert Johnson sites in the Mississippi Delta. There’s a lot more to it than that, but this is the short version, after all. The long version: For the last… Continue Reading →
Indianapolis Star journalist, Dave Lindquist talks about witnessing a tragic stage collapse at a Sugarland concert in Indianapolis.
Reggie Young talks about touring and recording with Johnny, Waylon, Willie and Kris: The Highwaymen.
Bill DeMain Is the co-author of Sgt. Pepper at 50. Bill shares some wonderful stories about the making of the most recognizable album artwork of all time.
Ray Wylie Hubbard talks about the time Ringo Starr played Snake Farm to Joe Walsh and the friendship that followed.
Dean Metcalf talks about the painting John Mellencamp gave to the Bob and Tom Show and the strange story surrounding it.
John Lomax tells the story of a Texas guitar legend who blew every opportunity and burned every bridge.
John Lomax II talks about how his father influenced Guy Clark, Lightnin Hopkins, Townes Van Zandt, Mance Lipscomp, and a lot of other young artists in Houston.
Reggie Young talks a bout playing guitar on Elvis Presley’s legendary recordings at American Sound Studios in Memphis. These sessions produced Suspicious Minds, In The Ghetto, Kentucky Rain and other all time Elvis classics.
Chris McKinney tells the story of how one guitar helped define the sound of The Beatles and Badfinger. Chris is the curator of the Jim Irsay Guitar Collection.
The tour ended last night with a sold out show in San Sebastian, Spain. Thanks to everyone who came to my gigs over the… Posted by Otis Gibbs on Saturday, July 1, 2017
Larry Groce talks about the time the biggest band in the world came to Charleston, West Virginia to play Mountain Stage.
I visited a slave cemetery earlier this week outside of Wyndale, Virginia. In the center is a massive 500 year old oak… Posted by Otis Gibbs on Saturday, April 8, 2017
Otis Gibbs -Sputnik Monroe (Official Video) This is the story of how a professional wrestler fought to desegregate a Memphis auditorium. Sputnik Monroe was a "bad guy" or "heel" who wrestled in Memphis in the late 1950s. It was his… Continue Reading →
It looks like my Mountain Stage appearance is streaming over at NPR .org. Everyone there treated me wonderfully and were… Posted by Otis Gibbs on Tuesday, May 16, 2017
The day Ernest T. Bass terrorized Nashville. Howard Morris came to town on Nov. 22, 1986, to celebrate Ernest T. Bass… Posted by Otis Gibbs on Friday, May 19, 2017
Ben Swanson is part owner of Secretly Group (Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar). Listen in as he shares stories about his friend, Jason Molina.
Ray Wylie Hubbard shares stories about whore dog gigs, unscrupulous promoters, Jerry Jeff Walker, Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Freddie King and a ton more.
Slaid Cleaves pays tribute to Don Walser, Fred Eaglesmith, Ray Wylie Hubbard and Gurf Morlix for taking the time to teach him a few lessons along the way.
Aaron Allan talks about being the first person to interview Johnny Cash while working as a disc jockey in San Antonio in the 1950s.
Mike Bub shares stories about Bill Monroe hanging and playing at Nashville’s Bluegrass Mecca, The Station Inn.