Laura Gibson: Bike Paths and Britney Spears (Davis, CA)-- Local Cut

Laura Gibson: Bike Paths and Britney Spears (Davis, CA)

January 16th, 2007 [12:40PM] Posted by: Laura Gibson | 1 COMMENT

Dear friends and readers of local cut,

I am very pleased (and kind of nervous) to be writing this tour journal, and even more pleased (and maybe more nervous) to be going on tour this month. The tour spans three weeks and stretches as far South as Austin, Texas, and as far East as Manhattan, Kansas (which actually might be the same distance East as Austin, I have to check the atlas again). Joining me, is multi-instrumentalist and good buddy Cory Gray.

Our first stop was Jacksonville, Oregon (population 2235, near Medford), where we played an cozy house show at the home of Jack and Nevada Fischer and their two teenage girls Jenny and Sara… Cory met the Fischers on a tour with the band Graves. The girls are big fans of Indie music and were disappointed that bands rarely stop in Southern Oregon. So they prepared a powerpoint presentation to convince their parents to start hosting house shows in the Living Room and backyard. I was very impressed and charmed by their initiative.

It was a comfortable, warm and friendly start to the tour. Quite a few kids came, the girls served cookies and people felt free to ask (or shout out) questions in-between songs. Cory and I had a lot of fun talking to the kids after the show. Oh!…and do you wanna know all the kids’ favorite band (at least the kids that we talked to)?…Alan Singley and the Pants Machine! Alan, if you are reading this, you should pay a visit to Jacksonville, Oregon. Your teenage fans await you.

After the house show, we headed down to Davis, California, to play on KDVS and at the Delta of Venus.

Here are some facts about Davis:

Davis was built in 1869 as a depot for Southern Pacific Railroad. The city is named after Jerome C. Davis, a prominent local farmer. It was originally known as “Davisville,” but the post office shortened it to Davis in 1817. Davis is home of the University of California Davis (the Aggies), and is known for it’s agriculture, its flat terrain and its many bike paths. Notable Davisites include Astronaut Steven Robinson, Pulitzer Prize winner Alan Taylor and DJ Shadow.

KDVS was great. I was a guest on “Cool as Folk” hosted by Mr. Michael Leahy. Michael has had all sorts of amazing guests on his show including Jolie Holland, Josh Ritter, the lovely Alela Diane (and in a few weeks Mr. Nick Jaina). He is a wonderfully warm person and a true supporter and fan of folk music. You can check out and listen to his show at coolasfolk.com .

We went on to play for a packed (small) room at the Delta of Venus with the Chapin Sisters, three actual sisters singing harmonies and playing songs that are partly innocent, charming folk and part creepy American Gothic. The sisters, I learned, are most famous for their dark cover or Britney Spears “Toxic,” which apparently was very popular on radio and download. They were very enchanting, and I found myself wishing that I had two singing sisters, so that I could be called the Gibson Sisters.

Oh, and the Delta of Venus had amazing food. We ended up eating both lunch and dinner there (and probably breakfast tomorrow morning).

A few musical selections from our drive down:

Dear Nora (Mountain Rock)
Page France (a mix of their songs that my friend Dot gave me)
Sufjan Stevens (Michigan)
Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins (Rabbit Fur Coat)
and Cory’s ipod on shuffle

Well, that’s all I can think to write at this moment…Thanks for reading this. I guess let me know if you have any questions.

Tomorrow we play in Oakland, and then on to LA.

yours very truly,
laura gibson

Share and Enjoy: