Otis Gibbs

Otis Gibbs (b. Wanamaker, February 1966 - ) – Singer, songwriter, storyteller, guitarist, photographer, and planter of over 7,000 trees. Raised in a rural community about nine miles southeast of downtown Indy, Otis Gibbs was a yo-yo champion in the fifth grade at Wanamaker Elementary. Currently, he is an internationally-known singer-songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee. Although he has toured the U.S. and Europe, he is currently staying put and working on an album. Self described as “a man in search of an honest experience,” Gibbs performs anywhere from festivals, bars and cafés to feed and seed stores, labor and anti-war rallies, and people’s living rooms. Known for his poignant lyrics describing the world that we live in, Gibbs has written several protest songs, which he refers to as “love songs for young radicals.” Of particular note, his “The People’s Day” from the critically acclaimed album One Day Our Whispers (2004) was included in a list of the “Top Five Songs with Something to Say,” complied by Billy Bragg in the Wall Street Journal. Incidentally, the other artists represented on the Bragg’s list were Sam Cooke, Bob Dylan, The Clash, and Chuck Berry. Before recording his first acoustic album in 2002, Gibbs played for about ten years in a roots-rock band called Lost Highway. His most recent album, Mount Renraw (2016), was recorded in his living room on his 50th birthday. Seven of his eight albums are his own label called Wanamaker.