Otis Gibbs "Detroit Steel"

Yay, driving season is here. It is great to jump into the car and follow your heart to friends and family, or just to explore. I am glad gas prices are coming down a bit. In doing some research, on this day in 1942, gas rationing was put in place, with non-essential vehicles only getting 3 gallons a week. Can you imagine? What does that translate to, around 60 miles a week? Just goes to show how different our living and working pattern is these days. Ah, to be able to walk to work, or take public transportation…but that is another story.

Otis Gibbs has today’s tune from his album Harder Than Hammered Hell, which came out back in February. The import version is available as of today on Amazon. It is Otis’ sixth album, and it’s the fourth release to come out on his own indie label, Wanamaker Recording Company, the East Nashville endeavor he started in 2008 with long-time partner Amy Lashley. The album title comes from a comment about digging in frozen ground, by a seventy-year-old friend and co-worker with whom Otis worked as a tree-planter in Indiana. Otis feels that is also an apt description for the creative process today. In the meantime, it’s time to take a drive! Here is “Detroit Steel,” let’s go!

-Jessie Scott