All Photos taken in Fort Worth by Alan Mercer
Susan Gibson is a road warrior in the truest sense in addition to being a dedicated singer, songwriter, and performing musician. The CMA award-winning songwriter (the Dixie Chicks took the Gibson-penned “Wide Open Spaces” to the top for four weeks) has been hitting the road consistently over the past 28 years, touring nationally in support of her own brand of Texas-Americana-folk music.
Susan, born in Fridley, Minnesota, grew up in Amarillo, Texas. She sang in church and school choirs for 15 years until she performed Suzanne Vega’s “Gypsy” in the Amarillo High School talent show. Hooked, she learned the entire catalogues of Vega, Indigo Girls, Tracy Chapman, and Shawn Colvin and eventually began writing her own songs.
After a stint in forest ranger school in Missoula, Montana in 1992 and 1993, she discovered open-mic nights and developed her own solo gigs and eventually joined The Groobees. They performed and released two CDs over five years until May 2001, after two band members’ wives had children and a third wanted to get off the road.
The Dixie Chicks’ version of Gibson’s “Wide Open Spaces” made it one of the best-selling country songs of all time, giving her the artistic freedom to write, perform, and record with few constraints.
Susan released her latest album, 'The Hard Stuff' this past October and it's already a classic. She reminds me of a Joni Mitchell type of talent, although Susan has a unique talent that belongs only to her. The album is filled with likable melodies and thought provoking lyrics.
Blessed as she's been, the award-winning songwriter also knows all too well that in the real world, sometimes there's just no avoiding "the hard stuff." Mind, not the kind she consciously swore off way back on Valentine's Day, 2010; after nine years of humble sobriety, it's easy enough, relatively speaking, for her to resist the temptation of a bottle of wine at a friend's table or politely decline the occasional unasked-for drink sent to the stage by a fan. But positive life choices and willpower alone offer no proof or protection against the kind of knock-you-on-your-butt shots that life itself can serve up on the regular. The best you can do, she's learned, is take each hit as it comes, get back up again, and try to find your wits and center of gravity before the next wallop lands. Because as sure as hearts break, van transmissions fail, and loved ones (both two- and four-legged) pass on, you can always count on another one coming.
Alan Mercer: Susan, you are one of the premier Singer/Songwriters in the world!
Susan Gibson: (Laughing humbly) Oh Alan, I love to hear that.
AM: You have set yourself apart, which is not the easiest thing to do.
SG: Thanks, that means a lot.
AM: Your albums just get better and better. Your new one, ‘The Hard Stuff’ is so enjoyable to listen to. It’s my favorite of all your work. Since everything must be categorized, how do you categorize your music?
SG: I always say it’s Singer/Songwriter/Storyteller which says nothing really. Every song was written by a songwriter. (Laughter) And they’re all sung by singers, so it’s really my way of dodging the question. (Laughter) I have never worked with the same producer more than once, so the common thread in my records are my songs. I pick people I really trust to produce them.
AM: Who produced your recent one?
SG: Andre Moran and he did a fantastic job. I don’t know him that well. I know people who know him and worked with him, who raved about him and were all proven true, after I got to work with him. There’s something about him that allowed me to trust him because honestly if you like the sound of the record it’s all him. If you like the songs, I’ll say thank you because I did write the songs, but what he did with them is all him. I went in and recorded my parts and then I went on tour. He sat there and worked on it and brought in the people to play. He’d send me rough mixes and I’d say I love it.
AM: It’s luscious.
SG: He did such a great job. It’s big without being overbearing and some of the most tender moments in the songs get to come out in a big way, yet it feels kind of intimate. That’s all the producer. I’ve had great fortune to work with great producers on every one of my records. They have all been either writers themselves or they really know how to feature a song. They have all been humble geniuses that know their craft.
AM: How did Andre stand out to you?
SG: It was awesome to work with Andre. He made me feel comfortable. The premise from the get-go on that record was I wanted something different. All my past records were made to reflect what I would sound like with a band and this one wasn’t. My guitar playing that I would play live is not even on that record so it’s real clean and I love it. I love the way I play and sing but it’s real fun to hand it to someone else and say, “What would you do with this?”
AM: He made a timeless work of art.
SG: Thanks, I will pass that along.
AM: Your lyrics do seem very personal. Are all your songs written like that?
SG: Yes, they are. I would like to be able to write abut a situation I didn’t go through. I’d like to be able as a writer to write about things I do not connect with emotionally. I think it takes courage to make a bold statement about something you may not know much about.
AM: It also takes courage to write about something you’ve gone through.
SG: If I do tackle a heavy subject my goal is to make it not all dark. There has to be some light in there somewhere. It’s easier to write sad songs because we all agree on what’s sad. We don’t all agree on what makes us happy. I don’t have a lot of love songs. We can all agree that that’s worth singing about.
AM: True.
SG: I internalize everything so my way of dealing with it is to write about it, hopefully in a way that connects to people. My mission statement for what I do, the driving around, putting on shows and records, writing songs, all of it is connecting with people.
AM: You are a troubadour in the truest sense.
SG: I am. I live in the van, but I do have a home too. I’m not homeless.
AM: You were blessed to have a gigantic hit song that most of your contemporaries don’t have.
SG: I am very blessed. Everyone is doing great, but I wish everyone could know the feeling of writing a hit song. I have one so I don’t have to try to write a hit song. I get to write about exactly what I want to write about. It’s a luxury to be able to indulge your artistic sense and still pay your internet bill.
AM: I would imagine the income from that song is continuous and now that the Dixie Chicks are hot again it must be even better.
SG: Yeah, I’m so glad they’re back. Every time they released a new album, I’d see a little bump because that song was so signature for them. I’d like to think that I’d still be doing this even if I didn’t have that safety net, but I don’t know, I like to be comfortable. (Laughter)
AM: And you should be!
SG: I do live in gratitude. I have an almost physical feeling of gratitude, like an adrenaline rush, but milder. I get to travel exactly how I want to travel. I know it’s not for everybody. Not everybody wants to live like this, but I think I’m the luckiest person in the world.
To learn more about Susan Gibson visit her web site https://www.susangibson.com/