If you’re like me, when you look at the Philadelphia Folk Festival lineup every year, you’ll see a lot of familiar names. And more than likely you’ll see at least as many names that are unfamiliar to you.
Some of you will have the time to investigate the artists that are unknown to you and decide which of them you like and want to see perform. Some of you, like me, usually just wing it.
This year, for the first time, I decided to cover one of the festival’s lesser-known artists. I went to Folk Fest expert Jesse Lundy of Point Entertainment and challenged him to recommend someone interesting to feature. Without hesitation he recommended Otis Gibbs.
MORE ABOUT THE FESTIVAL HEREOtis Gibbs is a singer-songwriter, painter and photographer. He also has a podcast titled “Thanks for Giving a Damn.” He has lived in East Nashville, Tennessee for nearly 10 years. Gibbs’ latest album, “Mount Renraw” (Wanamaker, 2017) is named for the place he calls home, which he recorded in his living room on his 50th birthday.
I spoke to Gibbs by telephone just after he returned home from a tour in Europe.
Regarding moving to East Nashville, Gibbs said “I like to joke that now I’m part of the problem.”
He continued: “I live on top of a big hill in this neighborhood called Renraw and I’m surrounded by touring musicians. My neighbors are artists. They’re painters and writers and musicians. I like that,” said Gibbs.
Gibbs relocated to East Nashville from Indianapolis, where he had worked planting trees.
“I planted trees for 10 years. It was a day job I had. I thought that’s what I would always do. I did that for a few months in the spring and a few months in the fall and I would play music the rest of the year. And some good things happened for me over in Europe and I started going over there more and more. And it made it possible for me to make a living from just music.”
Whereas some people move to Nashville to hit the big time in the music business, Gibbs and his long-time partner just wanted a change of scenery. They enjoy living in a town with interesting history and creative types, which is only 5 hours from Indianapolis.
“So I never had any delusions of coming to Nashville and becoming a sensation,” said Gibbs. “I wanted to live a creative life and do the things that matter to me on my terms. And I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to do that. And I’ve done everything I could do to remain obscure without realizing it,” he laughed.
Gibbs got his unlikely start in music at a young age.
“When I was a kid I grew up in Wanamaker, Indiana, a little farming community. My parents would work a couple of jobs apiece to try to make ends meet. And they would find some of the strangest individuals to babysit me during the day. One of those people was my uncle. And he probably wasn’t the best choice to be watching this little bitty kid because he had just gotten out of prison. It turned out he wasn’t even my uncle after all, he was just shacking up with my aunt at the time.
“He got bored watching (me) every day so he got this idea and he would take me down to this little honky tonk saloon and they had an old upright piano in the corner. He was a really good piano player and he would sit me up on top of the piano and I would sing Jimmy Rogers, Hank Williams, Carter Family songs, stuff like that while he accompanied me. And the drunks in the bar would give me tip money to sing whatever their requests might be. And then my uncle would take that money and get drunk on it. That’s when I first learned how the music industry actually works.”
Gibbs added: “I loved it. At the end of every day I would ask him ‘can we please go back again tomorrow?’ and he said ‘I’ll take you back every day but you have to promise me that you will not tell your parents what we’re doing.’ I was 26 years old when I first told my parents about it. They were p…… off.”
If you enjoy stories like this you should definitely check out “Thanks for Giving a Damn,” Gibbs’ podcast. It features interviews with musicians, journalists and historians who share memories, backstage stories and history lessons.
“I thought of the idea of making my own podcast where I would simply speak to the people who enjoy this thing that I do. I love the punk rock aspect of being your own media and speaking directly to the people without any filters. So I did 100 in the first two years and then from there I’ve slowed down. I put out one every couple of weeks now. “And it’s been great. This is the beautiful thing about this day and age that we live in. I uploaded an episode and about 3 hours later I got an email from someone in Israel who’s telling me they were just listening to it while they were walking their dog. It’s just beautiful how small the world has become.”
Gibbs is looking forward to performing at the Philadelphia Folk Festival.
“Anytime I get in front of an audience good things usually happen,” said Gibbs. “People always seem to enjoy it.”
He added: “There are people like me out there who have people who enjoy what they do and they’ve been able to continue leading creative lives. And I think it’s beautiful that the Philadelphia Folk Festival will shine a light on folks like that. That used to be what folk festivals were for. It’s beautiful that they’re still doing that.”
