C. Gibbs - Against Frail Beats on a Teetering Limb (2026)

Opening with “What The Doctor Says,” it suggests a new Prince track with the Purple One singing with San Diego’s C. Gibbs while Gibbs adds his brand of rock & determined vocals to a vibrant piece of work. Clever. It works nicely. Gibbs is a reliable artist I’m familiar with & through 16 albums he’s delivered originality & gusto wrapped in fine musicianship. 10 diversified songs go Against Frail Beats on a Teetering Limb produced by Jon Wubbens in studios in California. The work may traverse psychedelic folk, chamber pop, cinematic soul, post-punk & of course, Americana. It isn’t a jambalaya of unfocused music. C. Gibbs (guitars/vocals/keys) is sharp, focused, with layered guitars, tight grooves & storytelling. His themes can be challenging when he explores grief, cults, broken systems, or fleeting moments. “C. Gibbs sings Motherwell Johnston” was recorded over a span of two years in NYC. This album chronicles the fictitious Motherwell Johnston- an alias Gibbs began using to try new songs live without having any expectations from those who might be familiar with his past work (Lucinda Black Bear, C. Gibbs, Morning Glories). Having remained amazingy obscure throughout most of his career, the alias was probably not necessary but what began as a quirky experiment soon gave birth to some infectious powerful songs brought to life with the rock swagger of a new band including Tim Kuhl (Goaast)- Drums, Matt Brandau (Old Ceremony)- Bass, and Phil Sterk (Alana Amram ) –Pedal Steel. Gibbs even went as far as changing his personal appearance live: long hair topped with an arctic faux fur hat and a rust colored suit, donning some thick backwoods fly fisherman protective sunglasses. He would claim to be from Darby , Montana and berate the audience like a cranky reluctant hermetic frontman. Sometimes he still does shows as Motherwell Johnston but says, “”I’m inherently lazy and spending hours in front of my laptop creating more facebook, bandcamp, and soundcloud accounts for yet another band name is something that deterred me. I’d rather be writing and recording music than messing with that.” Hence the album is being released as C. Gibbs Sings Motherwell Johnston. A script was later written by playwright and director Andi Stover who was inspired by the album , concept and live performance . Gibbs happened to be working as an actor/musician/ performer at Oregon Shakespeare Festival when they submitted it to the Black Lab project and did a reading of the play with Gibbs performing all the music and text as Motherwell. A musical in Zurich and NYC is planned for 2017.