Happy Holidays!
Dear Readers,
The Thought on Tracks team will be taking a break during for the entire week after Christmas. We will be back to providing a full fledged onslaught of all the good music we can find after the first of the year. Until then, feel free to poke around the site for posts that you may have missed. We greatly appreciate the growth in interest in our little blog during 2011. We can only promise to continue to improve the site and its content every day. We hope that you’ll stay tuned and continue to rely on our coverage as a source for new music. We receive a tremendous amount of joy from sharing the music that we love. Hopefully, that joy translates.
Best,
Editor-in-Chief
Album Review: Otis Gibbs ‘Once I Dreamed of Christmas’
I’m not a fan of Christmas music. Never have been. For my money, you can set aside The Beach Boys Christmas Album, Ray Charles’ The Spirit of Christmas, throw in a crooner for good measure and toss the rest out of the window. Everything else reeks of crowded malls and drunken relatives.
That was until earlier this week when I received a gift: a tightly wrapped bundle in the form of the anti-Christmas, courtesy of Wanamaker, Indiana native Otis Gibbs. At long last, a man with just enough dry wit and sensibility to dress this holiday down. His 2003 album Once I Dreamed of Christmas sheds light on the holiday’s consumerism, the religious hypocrisy and its bogus spokesman, with enough humor to keep from sounding like a Scrooge.
I had the pleasure of watching Gibbs perform earlier this fall as part of MOKB Presents Songwriters in the Round at White Rabbit Cabaret. Gibbs joined local songsmiths Richard Edwards and Cameron McGill as they traded tunes and moments of emotional earnestness. Gibbs’ renditions of “Caroline” and “Small Town, Saturday Night” were both songs that served as sights to behold.
With Otis, you can safely rely upon a straight story. He wields a sword of honesty that slices through bullshit like pads of butter. For further evidence, check out his phenomenal photography. While the rest of the town is busy stewing over missing out on the holiday’s hottest toy, Gibbs is there to remind us of the drunk in the gutter, the father without a job and the lonely, single mother. “Carl and Mavis,” “Cowboy’s Christmas” and “Jesus on the Couch” are all winners. Stream the album in its entirety here:
Yesterday, it was announced that Gibbs will be included in February’s Super Bowl Village. I am thrilled to show visitors that the Hoosier state is home to deeper thinkers than Johnny Cougar. I can’t wait to see how Otis reacts when given a soap box in the midst of corporate America’s biggest spectacle. Mud will be slung and barbs will be traded. My only hope is that I’ll be standing close enough to bare witness.
Connect with Otis Gibbs via Twitter | Facebook | Bandcamp
Written by Rob Peoni
Thought on Tracks 
Album Preview: Tennis ‘Young & Old’
Husband-and-wife duo Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley were introduced to us in the fall of 2009 when their sensational first single “Marathon” sailed through the blogosphere. I needed more and Tennis served up their listener friendly debut LP Cape Dory this time last year. The album is short and sweet but managed to float through my rotation through the entirety of 2010. Not only did I find myself falling in love with these simple melodies, but I became owned by their story.
The couple started their band after a 7 month sailing expedition down the Eastern Atlantic seaboard. This trip inspired the formation of Tennis and subsequently the theme of Cape Dory. Each and every one of the songs is dedicated to their expedition with songs such as “Baltimore” and “South Carolina” identifying stops along the way. Tennis was compelling to me because they were fresh, simple and they carried a story. They are captains of their careers and I can’t wait to see where they take us in 2012 and we have already received a glimpse of the beginnings.
Tennis is set to release Young & Old on Valentine’s Day. First single “Origins” has been blowing up the Sirius Satellite airwaves and been floating through countless blogs. Listen below. Tennis will be playing at Radio Radio on February 27th. Tickets are $10. Make sure you pay close attention to this release. They will likely provide us with another tale. Maybe not nautical, but certainly notable.
Connect with Tennis via Facebook | Twitter | Fat Possum
“Origins”
Written by Brett McGrath