Not Your Average Catfish!

Planted over 7,000 trees, check. Slept on the street, check. Walked with nomadic shepherds in Romania, check. Fifth grade yo-yo champion, proudly! Oh, and once wrestled a bear and lost. Just a few samples of the life lived by a man "in search of an honest experience."

Otis Gibbs is a soulful grit of American exposure often referred to as an indie folk artist. No matter how you brand his music it always tends to lie just outside current trend but still maintain a sense of home within a story.

Years on the road playing festivals, bars, theaters and even house concerts have afforded Otis a living and allowed him to keep an identity all his own musically. Gibbs latest release [sixth album] titled: Harder Than Hammered Hell is based on experiences Otis earned from his days as a tree planter in Indiana. He contributes much of the knowledge to his seventy year old friend and co-worker during that time. The friend would often refer to hard dirt, hard work and hard people as just that, "harder than hammered hell." Song titles like "Made To Break", "Detroit Steel" and "Don't Worry Kid" give you an idea of the hard earned dues paid in by a 70 year old but it's the story about a catfish named Big Whiskers that stands out most. A fisherman vowing to not shave his own beard until he catches the monster "cat" is just one of the long tales based around an actual world record 79 pound 8 ounce fish pulled from White River near Gibbs' home as a child.

Otis' European tour is in full swing for now but he should be back state side after summer.

The official video for Detroit Steel was released back in May and offers an all American look at one of Motor Cities finest creations.