Otis Gibbs

Raised in Wannamaker, Indiana, folksinger and songwriter Otis Gibbs' raspy vocals and sharp lyrics have had him compared to Steve Earle, Bob Dylan, and early Tom Waits, but his socially conscious writing style also puts him in a line that reaches back to Woody Guthrie and Peter Seeger. His introduction to performing came when he was four years old and was being babysat by his uncle, who had recently been released from prison and had a drinking problem. The uncle would take Gibbs to a local bar with an upright piano and sit Gibbs up on it, where the child would sing Jimmie Rodg...