Artist: Gibson Wilibanks
Song: “The Great Escape”
Album: Gibson Wilbanks
Genre: Folk, Soul
Listening to Gibson Wilbank‘s self-titled debut album feels like taking a nap on a mattress in the back of a pick-up truck, driving down a smooth country road on a warm summer day. The musical couple, both busy working musicians on their own, create soothing, back porch folk-soul tunes that drift along like an airy breeze.
One track that truly stands out is the enchanting “The Great Escape”, which was inspired by a crazy traveling experience: “We wrote this on a camping trip we took to the North Georgia Mountains five years back. It was an adventure to say the least. To get to the spot, we had to cross a creek with our ’72 Ford truck. At first this creek was very low, so it was no problem. To our own surprise, the sky’s ass ended up falling out and we got rained on the majority of the time. We were prepared for rain, but hadn’t prepared for a monsoon. The first night we sat miserably with our two dogs underneath a leaky ez-up, our tent was soaked with water. And it got worse…our truck slipped off an embankment and was stuck, so we couldn’t leave. We had to laugh at our soaked, sad, situation and ended up writing this tune in true desperation. The next morning, with great effort, we succeeded at getting the truck unstuck. Big frigging win for us! We rejoiced and quickly planned our escape from the forest that was ever-threatened with the chance of MORE rain. Then we get back to the creek……it was so high it was up to the motor. So, we take off at a good speed and boom! The truck stalls and we are sitting, stuck in the middle of a creek. The cold water stalled the engine. BJ tried to crank the truck and it wouldn’t budge. He then laughs out loud, hysterically while we’re sitting there in the middle of running water. Then we notice that the shifter wasn’t in park! We quickly put it in park, run the truck up and took off…What an adventure.”
An acoustic soul song, filled out by somber harmonica and western desert atmosphere, “The Great Escape” evokes strong emotional desires for opens space and directionless journeying. The harmonizing of singers BJ Wilbanks and Carly Gibson mesh so beautifully you would think you’re hearing one perfect voice.
Find the track in our Check This 2019 Playlist below:
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