The C. Gibbs Review – Sincerity’s Ground

Christian Gibbs is the singer/guitarist of the Morning Glories, a loud guitar band that originated in San Diego before moving to New York City. As is the trend of late, Gibbs has taken a step away from the hard guitar stance of his group efforts and brewed a batch of heartfelt, countrified, acoustic-based tunes. I’m not sure, but it looks like he’s even wearing a cowboy hat on the cover shot of this solo debut. Gibbs’ songwriting is clear and concise, his voice strong and sure. His dramatic vocal style lies somewhere between that of late folk singer Steve Goodman and Steve Wynn’s post-Dream Syndicate drawl. While this effort is clearly geared towards fans of Americana, Gibbs appears to have drawn his country-blues influences third hand. As a result, much of the music on Sincerety’s Ground sounds like the Rolling Stones when they were hanging out with country-rock rebel Gram Parsons. This isn’t a bad thing and might be explained by the fact Gibbs spent some time living and playing music in England before returning to the U.S. Still, Gibbs consistently sings his heart out over a thicket of bluesy guitars and knows how to spin a good yarn. One can only wonder what the man might sound like if this type of music was his first priority. (Cargo, 4901-906 Morena Blvd., San Diego, CA 92117)

-Mitch Myers