We have returned from a Tennessee swing in which we played the Station Inn in Nashville, Riverbend in Chattanooga, and the Dumpling Valley Bluegrass Festival in Kodak as well as a stop at Harry Grant's Wind Gap Bluegrass Festival in Pennsylvania. I felt like we were all 'on' the entire trip, that the little engine was purring. Usually one out of five is going to be having an off day, whether it's feeling under the weather or whatever, but we all felt great and enjoyed the sunshine and smiling faces. We've really made an effort to play more in the Southeast the past couple of years, and it's paying off. It feels so good to be in Tennessee and hear folks yelling out our songs. We had so many nice moments, but I think one that will stand out is playing "Farm Of Yesterday" on stage for the first time with the band at the Station Inn. It's been a worry of ours that the song hits too close to home with Dad's recent medical problems, but there was feeling in the room that lifted the song. They rang the bell for it as well as for "Ring The Bell," the venue's sign of approval. Mike Bub's not one to blow smoke, and his telling me how much he loved the song means a lot to me. He was kind enough to run sound for us and really made it sparkle. Roland White came out to the show as well, another of our favorite musicians and people.

Leigh got to play with the Traveling McCourys at Riverbend. We were a last moment replacement act and the McCoury set was a surprise set as well. They jammed for thousands and thousands with a rumor going around that Phish was coming (they were up the road at Bonnaroo). We kept hearing all over the grounds and even at the hotel that someone BIG was coming. Leigh had no idea who the special guest would be. Right before the set kicked off, Leigh asked Ronnie McCoury, "So, who is the special guest?" Ronnie answered, "Well, you!" Leigh got a real kick out of that. Several of our Southern cousins showed up and we were so thrilled to see them. You should hear THEM sing.

Dumpling Valley was an excellent festival set in some beautiful rolling green hills. They talk about the friendliness of East Tennessee, and they aren't kidding. They brought us back for two encores after our evening set. The next morning we're at Cracker Barrel and had a few different folks come over to express how much they enjoyed our music. When we went to pay, our bill had been taken care of! Thank you so much to whomever extended that kindness.

Wind Gap is always a blast. We lucked out that our show was on sunny Sunday and not soggy Saturday. Harry is a real character, a successful promoter and excellent sound engineer. Wind Gap has such a rich history. I love looking at the bluegrass mural on stage of all the great pioneers in our music. It's a good thing to reflect on that history during the performance and I have an idea that was exactly Harry's intention.

Off to Smoked Country Jam and Jenny Brook. Thank you, Lord, for making me a bluegrasser!

Eric

TRACK TWELVE -- "Bottomland" (Leigh Gibson)
We have wanted to record "Bottomland" for years. We actually did record it on the album we did with Ricky Skaggs that was never released. That version was more country with percussion, steel guitar, baritone electric, accordion, etc. It was lush and beautiful and sounded like it should be on a movie soundtrack. Leigh always held up Skaggs' version on a pedestal and felt we couldn't touch it on our own. I knew at its core that it's a special song and would be wonderful even stripped down with a guitar or two. I didn't want to load this song up with all kinds of big production on a bluegrass record, but it's one of my favorite songs, an important song even. I said, "What would Tim O'Brien do?" That seemed to spark something in Leigh, and drove us to do a more old-timey treatment. I am so glad we did. "Farm Of Yesterday" is my tribute to our upbringing, and "Bottomland," though not strictly biographical (we were farmers, not sharecroppers), is Leigh's. Did I mention the boy can sing?

TRACK TWELVE -- "Bottomland" (Leigh Gibson)
We have wanted to record "Bottomland" for years. We actually did record it on the album we did with Ricky Skaggs that was never released. That version was more country with percussion, steel guitar, baritone electric, accordion, etc. It was lush and beautiful and sounded like it should be on a movie soundtrack. Leigh always held up Skaggs' version on a pedestal and felt we couldn't touch it on our own. I knew at its core that it's a special song and would be wonderful even stripped down with a guitar or two. I didn't want to load this song up with all kinds of big production on a bluegrass record, but it's one of my favorite songs, an important song even. I said, "What would Tim O'Brien do?" That seemed to spark something in Leigh, and drove us to do a more old-timey treatment. I am so glad we did. "Farm Of Yesterday" is my tribute to our upbringing, and "Bottomland," though not strictly biographical (we were farmers, not sharecroppers), is Leigh's. Did I mention the boy can sing?

TRACK ELEVEN -- "That's What I Get For Lovin' You (Eric Gibson, Leigh Gibson)
We did 'pretty' with Track Ten, so let's try 'gritty' with Track Eleven. Leigh Boy has an unbelievable range. Yep, that's him on that keening falsetto tenor. I was telling him how much I loved his voice on the way to NYC the other day, and he said, "I think you put more stock in my voice than I do." I think he could sing anything he wanted to. He can tear your heart out with a tender ballad and then take the tops off trees with a high lonesome harmony. This song is turning out to be a real fun 'festival' song, the kind we love to play during a late-night summer show when folks are howling at the moon.

TRACK TEN -- "Forever Has No End" (Eric Gibson, Leigh Gibson)
Corina said to me one day, "I love the songs you guys write. You've written songs about hermits, railroads, old barns, ragged men...you ought to write a love song once in awhile. People can relate to love songs." I had that in the back of my mind when I started writing this one. I don't believe it's a bona fide love song with birds chirping and swooping violin music; it's more of a realistic love song. How do I say it? "She Paints a Picture" was written by an eighteen-year-old and this one by a guy in his late thirties still in love with the same woman.

TRACK NINE -- "Just An Old Rounder" (Marshal Warwick)
I've been reading Marshal Warwick's name for years next to great songs like "City Folks Call Us Poor" on Larry Sparks' "40" album. I was thrilled when a package of his songs showed up at my door. They were all quality songs, but this one jumped out the most as being something we should try. I've always loved the story of the prodigal son, and this redemption story is delivered this time with such joy. I think there's quite a bit of joy throughout this album, really. Many of the songs contain a spiritual element, but this one is truly a Gospel song. I hope more of Marshal's songs make their way to us!

TRACK EIGHT -- "Farm Of Yesterday" (Eric Gibson)
I woke up with this song on my mind on the fourth day of recording. I had written it a year or so before and had shown it to Leigh backstage at the Palatka Bluegrass Festival, but I didn't get much response from him at that point. In the studio, I had him one-on-one with no distractions, and he was very moved. Leigh is not a heart-on-his-sleeve kind of guy, so it choked me up. He said, "That is a great song. It might be too personal though." I persuaded him to take a chance, that laying it all out there might be the difference between a good album and a great one.

I'm glad we recorded it. I had wanted to pay tribute to my parents without being too over-the-top sentimental. Every word is true. The work was hard, but I wouldn't trade my upbringing. We saw our parents every single day. We needed each other to make the family farm work. That farm was our whole world. We never left except to go to school, church, or to play ball. I had only seen one other state, Vermont, and had been across the border to Canada a few times by the time I was eighteen. Little did I know that our music would take us all over this great country. We felt isolated with "our backs against the border" and "those mountains to the south." Farming wasn't all cake and ice cream, but we were happy. Each summer I couldn't wait for those big doors to close on the hay barn, knowing they wouldn't open until we'd have to fill mows again the following summer. How I'd like to open them again.

TRACK SEVEN -- "Jericho" (Joe Newberry)
It's an unwritten rule, and one we have not aways followed, that every bluegrass record needs a barn burner. Sometimes I'll listen to that type of song on a bluegrass album and think, "Yep, it was fast. So? What else is it?" I like "Jericho" because it's a fast song that has some meat to it. I love the line "You will see my treasure bouncing on my knee" about the narrator's baby girl waiting for him at home when he'd left in search of monetary gain. I hope we captured the joy musically that is contained in Joe Newberry's lyric. I love the hillbilly timing of the chorus, the little hiccup that our friend Robert Fraker referred to as the song's crookedness. It's a fun one to play on stage with the exhilaration of knowing that we could crash and burn at any second. I'm sure we'll have a train wreck at some point. It only takes one moment of one of us losing concentration on the chorus and it will happen. We need to have some kind of kangaroo court for the first offender.

TRACK SIX -- "What Can I Do?" (Bob DiPiero, Leigh Gibson, Eric Gibson)
We were honored to have the opportunity to write with celebrated Nashville "Hit Man" Bob DiPiero, collaborating on several songs with him at the beginning of this decade. We were a bit intimidated to write with Bob, knowing he'd penned hits for everyone from George Strait to Reba to you-name-it-he's-done-it. He immediately put us at ease when he grabbed his Taylor and stuck his bare feet up on his coffee table. We wrote some fun songs with Bob, but this one's in a more serious vein. Clayton's twin fiddles usher in a song that's too country for country, just like those Gibson Brothers.