The Little Roy and Lizzie Show—thick with Georgia accents and blazing fast on the banjo—were a crowd favorite.
“He couldn’t have written that song if he hadn’t lived it,” says Eric Gibson, one of two brothers who form the five-member Gibson Brothers bluegrass band. “I don’t know how he sings that line. I have to steel myself to it.”
Eric refers to Leigh Gibson, his brother and the writer credited for “In The Ground,” the title song that shares the same name of the band’s latest bluegrass album. The lyrics incorporate multiple themes that refer to death, the economy of agriculture, and clearing hemlock and planting crops.
“My father was a great man and I don’t want that to be forgotten,” recalls Leigh. “Before we had any intention that we’d be musicians, we were farmers. Our lives revolved around the rhythm of the farm.” The Gibson brothers grew up on a dairy farm in Plattsburgh, New York, but later would include one of the world’s top fiddle players, Clayton Campbell, from Kentucky.
The GIbson Brothers headlined the peak Friday of Blistered Fingers in an aggressive schedule of two, one-hour sets inside of six hours. “I remember pushing the Gibson brothers out on stage in the mid-1990s and they were scared to death,” recalls Greg Cormier, cofounder of The Blistered Fingers bluegrass festival.
30-Year Overnight Success
The Blistered Fingers bluegrass festival--New England’s largest of its kind with over 3,000 visitors--nestles itself among Maine pine trees and a motley of southern and northern-influenced bluegrass at Litchfield fairgrounds in Litchfield, Maine. One aspect of the festival is the “jam session” that includes small groups. One 15-year-old mandolin player “jammed” until 2 am. “The gates don’t open until Wednesday,” says festival cofounder Sandy Cormier, Greg’s wife and fellow band mate, “but people line up as early as Sunday.”
“We’re doing sound, our own band--also named Blistered Fingers--and we’re shepherding guests in and out of the park,” says Sandy. The Cormiers’ daughter, Katie, grew up with the festival, having slept in the Cormiers’ open guitar cases while the Blistered Fingers band played on stage.
Connecting Through Music
“Little Roy is one of the Blistered Fingers fans’ favorites. Just bring the people and we’ll do our best,” says Greg. The Cormiers curate the musical acts that from surveys from their patrons. “We like to get them what they want,” says Sandy. “We like to keep it traditional.”
According to the Cormiers, there were a few hard years, especially around 2009. “A lot of people lost their jobs and sold their RVs,” says Greg. “We wouldn’t be able to do it without the love and support of the folks out there,” says Sandy. “We do that for these folks and they return their enthusiasm to us.”
The Gibson Brothers echoed that sentiment. “When you write a song, you think no one is going to get it. And you include details that you think are unique, but people come to me and say ‘my dad’s not a farmer but I can relate to this.’ It’s not the world’s most popular music, or the most profitable but we get to do what we want,” says, Eric Gibson. “We connect with people.”
2018 will bring the fiftieth festival, which is held biannually in June and August. The next Blistered Fingers festival, its 49th, is held in Litchfield, Maine on August 23-27, 2017.