INDY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

A very Otis Christmas

That bearded man offering you Christmas cheer this year may not be jolly old St. Nick. It could be singer/songwriter Otis Gibbs, who’s written and recorded a new album of holiday songs. But Once I Dreamed of Christmas is not your typical Yule disc. Like his other songs, Gibbs’ songs spin thoughtful, humane stories. Whether he plays the material for laughs, as in “Lloyd the Reindeer,” or gets a little more serious, it’s as well-crafted and meaningful as anything he’s done in his long and distinguished career as a storyteller. For Gibbs, putting the album together was not a spontaneous move. “It wasn’t like last year I decided to do a Christmas album and thought I’d better write some Christmas songs,” he said. “The oldest song on here was written in 1987. I’m always writing stuff and after a while, you realize that there are a lot of songs written on a certain theme. I thought about three years ago that I would do a Christmas album, but it was just a pain to get the whole thing going. There were always other things to do. This summer, I had a little free time and decided to get it going.” He got together with longtime friend and collaborator Vess Ruhtenberg, set up a few mics and started recording. Over the years, without really meaning to, Gibbs had written a number of Christmas songs, one or two at a time. They captured most of them in one take. “I definitely didn’t want to have the same old sappy Christmas album,” he said. “There’s a lot of overproduced crap out there, at least to me, and I wanted it to be really stripped down and intimate. I didn’t want to make something that sounded like a made-for-TV movie soundtrack, I just wanted to make songs that people could relate to.” As you’d expect from a self-professed anarchist and Wobbly, he has some thoughts about the over commercialization of the holiday. “I really like Christmas, but it’s because you get together with your family and everybody’s happy. Over the last 10 years, I’ve really enjoyed having regular get-togethers with friends. There’s something about the end of the year that makes it easier for folks to get together and have a good time. “It’s silly that it’s based on the goal of spending money at the mall. That’s been said a thousand times before, and I’m not saying anything new, but it seems odd that it’s supposedly based around a religious event and changed the date to coincide with a pagan holiday. “I bet Jesus would be pissed if he came around and saw what we did to his birthday.” But while the album is filled with the warmth and meaning of his other material, Gibbs stops short of delivering sermons on the disc. “Nobody wants to be preached to,” he said. “But we can all relate to working-class values. Most of us were raised in working-class households that experienced the same sorts of things I did growing up.” Gibbs has fond memories of his childhood Christmases spent in Wanamaker. Looking back on them, he doesn’t remember the presents but instead the family memories. “It was always nice going over to Grandma’s house for Christmas,” he said. “It was fun going upstairs and playing with the G.I. Joes or whatever I got. And at the end of the day, my grandpa would play country and western stuff on his guitar. I really thought he wrote all of those Hank Williams songs. I didn’t know who Hank Williams was until I was about 12 or so. ‘You mean Grandpa didn’t write these songs?’ “But I really can’t stand going to a Christmas party and there’s these kids there opening presents that their parents worked pretty hard for. A lot of times, they’ve worked a lot of overtime just because they want their kids to be happy. And then in three seconds, the kid unwraps the presents, looks at it, says, ‘Oh,’ and unwraps the next one and looks at it for three seconds. They blaze through their presents without any real reaction and it leaves you feeling hollow. It makes you feel bad for the parents that we’re raising a generation of instant-gratification junkies. I don’t know what the answer is, unless it’s somehow to get rid of the commercialism. There’s nothing positive about it.” Gibbs paused, thought for a second and then flashed a wide smile. “Of course, I’m probably adding to it by doing a Christmas album,” he said, laughing. When asked what was the best present he ever received for Christmas, he paused again. “In 1991 or ’92, I wasn’t having the best year and Christmas wasn’t resonating with me very well,” he said. He was then invited to a party hosted by Jeff Sample, the longtime Indy music promoter and supporter. “The one person who seems to epitomize Christmas for me is Jeff Sample. He somehow has this ability to make everybody a part of it. He has this ability to extend family beyond blood. He bought me this little cheesy train set. I felt like a little kid again. It was a silly little gesture. I wasn’t really expecting anything from him. We’re close friends now, but back then I was just another buddy at the bar to him. “That’s what’s special about Christmas to me, being with friends and extended family. It doesn’t have anything to do with presents or anything. It’s hanging out until 5 in the morning and getting silly.” Gibbs will formally unveil the album this Friday, Dec. 12, with a show at the Patio. Also appearing on the bill will be singer/songwriter Cameron McGill from Chicago and the acoustic duo Blueprint Music. Gibbs will be playing solo but will welcome friends and special guests on stage with him. Free food from Yat’s will also be served at the beginning of the evening. After the holiday, Gibbs is looking forward to recording his next album early next year. He plans to go to Europe in March and to tour the States as much as possible. “You’ve just got to meet folks and sing for them,” he said. “It’s always gone well. You go to a strange city and play in front of strangers and nine of 10 times it goes really well. You’ve got to spread the word and let folks know you exist.” He plans to limit his stage time locally, though, he said. “I’d like to play 10 times or less in Marion County in 2004, but I’d like to play 200 shows elsewhere. I think bands play way too much. Plus, I’ve been playing the Patio for 13 years anyway, so it’s good to space them out. It makes every show that much more meaningful. I’d grow stale if I stayed here and played the same crowd over and over again.” The Christmas album is his first recording for Benchmark Records after a long association with Flat Earth Records. “There’s no drama involved,” he said; he just likes the work ethic at his new label. “I work really, really hard at what I do,” he said, “and I like being in a situation where the people around me are working just as hard.” Once I Dreamed of Christmas is available at most local music-retail outlets, but Gibbs advises people to visit an independent music store if they want the disc. “Please buy from local people,” he said. “The mom-and-pop stores depend on people like us.” The disc is also available at milesofmusic.com, benchmarkrecords.com and otisgibbs.com.