There’s a line in the title song of my latest album The Fields of Chazy - “Today I walk a winding road…” While it refers to my discovery of an old apple orchard in my grandfather’s North Country hometown of Chazy, NY, the winding road is an apt metaphor for my life’s career path - which has been anything but straight. I’ve had a lot of jobs in my life - truck loader, newspaper reporter, educator, librarian - but only one true calling and vocation since I was very young. I am a songwriter, always a songwriter.
A New York State native who was raised partially in Hong Kong and in several different towns in NY’s lower Hudson Valley, I grew up slightly rootless. But I found myself magnetically drawn to the music that my oldest sister started bringing home after she snuck off to the Woodstock festival in her teens. I became fascinated by performing songwriters like Joni Mitchell and Neil Young and later on by artists like Chrissie Hynde, Paul Westerberg, Lucinda Williams and John Hiatt. They were all so different, with such unique styles, but their songs always felt vital to me. I studied formal music composition as well as classical and jazz guitar in college, but I learned the most from playing in my own band - writing songs, making noise, and having fun playing those songs for an audience. I learned quickly that a good song was one I wanted to play over and over - one that offered my audience something every time I played it.
I took a long break from performing after I married and raised my three kids, but I never stopped writing. I jumped back into playing publicly in 2016, and while my path is still winding - and was somewhat halted by the pandemic for a few years - it’s as clear as ever: I am always a songwriter.
I’m Claudia Gibson of Austin, Texas and I’m honored to be opening for the wonderful Joe Jencks at Austin Acoustical Cafe on March 9.
-- Claudia Gibson