First, let’s share a quick photo:Indiana’s Otis Gibbs was at the Grand Ole Opry, and snuck backstage while Ricky Skaggs and Deirks Bentley were on stage to snap a stealth photo.
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Some new music news from two longtime bands that Indianapolis roots-rock fans have supported as well as any city has:
Will Hoge’s new single “When I Get My Wings” was unveiled this week, from his upcoming record Number Seven. That album will be available on September 27th. The single, a soulful, Stax-rific piece of Hoge soul, hit radio August 1st.
Will Hoge – “When I Get My Wings” by Rykodisc
“The song was inspired by a story I read in the Tennessean obituaries about a lady who had passed away and left her husband behind,” Hoge told American Songwriter. “They were married for like 60 years or something. I just started thinking about what the husband must have gone through, trying to make sense of living life without her.”
“The original version was a bluegrass song that came together in probably an hour or so,” remembers Hoge. “The story and lyrics remained the same, but the final version was re-written and re-recorded the final day of tracking. So, in some ways I guess it took an hour to start and a year to finish.”
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The BoDeans (Sam Llanas and Kurt Neumann) co-wrote all 13 songs on their new release Indigo Dreams. Michael Ramos (keyboards), Bukka Allen (accordion), Kenny Aronoff and Noah Levy (drums) also play on the record. Similar in style to their three most recent studio albums, Resolution, Still and Mr. Sad Clown.
BoDeans – “Blowin’ My Mind” (from KINK Radio in Portland, OR)[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/UABYMxmHyCI?]
Otis Gibbs
Indiana Music: New album from Eric Baker; new music coming from Otis Gibbs, Bobbie Lancaster
Former Elms guitarist Thom Daugherty’s first record as a producer is available as a free sampler. He helmed the knobs for Indianapolis singer/songwriter Eric Baker’s debut album Hope & Thin Space. You can listen here and download four songs by entering your email and zip code. It is a smart slice of American gospel rock and roll.
Baker writes on his website that “My producer, Thom Daugherty, and I went into the studio to record “Kingdom”, (and) we talked about giving it a Killers-like vibe, full of energy, with a sound that hopefully captured the passion of the lyric. And, while other lyrics on the record express struggle and questions, I wanted to kick it off with an acknowledgement of hope and optimism.”
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Indianapolis (now living in Nashville) folk artist Otis Gibbs announced on Wednesday that he has started recording his next record. He wrote on Facebook that “I guarantee that of all the records that have ever been made, this will be one of them.”
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Bobbie Lancaster next album, a live project, is nearly mixed and will be released in Bloomington in August, along with, she says, a new album from The Millbranch String Theory. Lancaster, by the way, is in the process of moving with her family from Bloomington to Greencastle this month. She also continues her summer tour of central Indiana libraries, performing and working on music with children, and hits the road at the end of the month for a pair of John Prine tribute shows.
Indiana Music: the tales of Otis Gibbs; new pics of Henry Lee Summer
Americana singer/songwriter Otis Gibbs wrapped up his European tour this weekend, and was headed home on lasty\ Sunday night from Norway. He tweeted that he “shared a taxi to the airport with Loudon Wainwright”. No word on if they performed a duet of “Dead Skunk” on the way.
Gibbs – from Indiana, now living in Nashville, Tennessee – then shared the stage Wednesday night in Louisville with fellow East Nashville resident Todd Snider at the Kentucky Derby Festival Great Steamboat Race After Party
Henry Lee Summer has released pics from his recent photo shoot with Heather Miles. You can check out the images here.