Gibson Brothers, The

THE GIBSON BROTHERS

• From Ellenburg Depot, New York (in the Champlain Valley, upstate New York.)
• Eric (banjo) and Leigh (guitar) Gibson formed their band in 1991. Eric is the older of the two by eleven months.
• Their family tree includes Orville Gibson, founder of the musical instrument company, who is from the same area.
• Before going full-time with the band, Leigh was a dairy farmer and Eric was a school teacher.
• 1998, won IBMA award for “Emerging Artist of the Year.”
• 1998, signed with Ceili Records, moved to Nashville and began performing and recording more country-oriented material. But in their own words, they were “too country for country.”
• 2002, returned to bluegrass with the release of Bona Fide (Sugar Hill Records.)
• 2004, released Long Way Back Home album (Sugar Hill).
• 2006, released Red Letter Day album (Sugar Hill).
• 2008, released Iron and Diamonds album (Sugar Hill).
• 2009, released Ring the Bell album (Compass Records).
• 2010, won IBMA awards for Song of the Year and Gospel Recorded Performane of the Year for “Ring the Bell.”
• 2011, released Help My Brother album (Compass).
• 2011, won IBMA awards for Vocal Group of the Year and Album of the Year (for “Help My Brother”)
• 2012, won IBMA awards for Entertainer of the Year and Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year (for “Singing As We Rise”)
• 2012, released They Called It Music album (Compass).
• 2013, won IBMA awards for Entertainer of the Year, Vocal Group of the Year and Song of the Year (for “They Called It Music.”)
• 2015, released Brotherhood album (Rounder), a salute to brother duets of the past.
• 2015, Eric and Leigh Gibson were both awarded honorary doctorates (Doctor of Fine Arts) from the State University of New York. They had previously earned their bachelor’s degrees at SUNY (Plattsburgh, NY).
• 2017, released In the Ground album (Rounder).
• 2017, won IBMA Award for “Gospel Recorded Performance of the Year” (for their song “I Found a Church Today.”)