From punk to pedal steel, the Chattanooga storyteller lays bare the challenges of a tough year.
This is a short, impactful record. Cody Landress-Gibson cuts to the chase and burrows into our hearts. His gut-twisting lyrics prompt us to check in with our deepest feelings, as his raw voice gravels, growls and claws at our own fears and insecurities. We sympathise, we empathise, and we try to imagine how we would cope with the situations he articulates. He doesn’t offer too many answers; more surprising it would be, if he did. Yet he pricks a few nerves, making the listener consider their own losses and life challenges.
Landress-Gibson is from Chattanooga, Tennessee. He has been involved in making music for almost twenty years, although not always the rootsy, folksy old-time storytelling style that populates his new record. He started his musical journey in a punk band, yet has always absorbed the traditional music of the area he calls home. Telling stories about what it’s like to get by in Appalachia is what he does, and on this, his second independent release, he grapples with the events and difficulties of a particularly challenging year. “There is a lot of loss on that album. I think most of it is due to the year I had prior to going into the studio….I guess loss was really on my mind when writing some of those songs”
Landress-Gibson delivers his songs in a straightforward, honest way. At Least Tomorrow deals with the immediacy of loss, not having that presence; the sights and sounds no longer there. For anyone who may be pondering how they will spend their days after the loss of someone close, this song hits hard. “It’s one I wrote thinking about losing your significant other and longing for them after they have passed on. There’s a lot of religious overtones, because I’m raised in the South and I can’t escape it,” says Landress-Gibson. The positive major key suggests he’s trying to put on a brave face, yet, as he admits, he’s struggling. “How long’s it take to finally sink in?/My knees are feeling weak/I think I’m floundering”. His songs show the challenges in dealing with difficult and traumatic life events; his grandmother’s dealing with the loss of his grandfather was on his mind when writing Coffee Black. The song contains a confusing cocktail of coffee, religion and prescription drugs and, like other songs on the album, is probably more thematic than literal.
The album takes us through other heart-wrenching scenarios, all delivered from the perspective of a simple guy trying to make sense of it all. The tough reality of making relationships work is tackled in Beginners Luck, a haunting song which telepathises Big Star’s beautiful, enigmatic Thirteen, quite different but somehow reminiscent. The 2018 version of this song had Landress-Gibson singing solo, yet on the new album it is presented as a duet with Haley Hamblen, a singer that he got to know through the Chattanooga folk scene and who has previously performed in his string band, the Sicklehammers. “I thought it would be cool to have a female vocalist added in. It gives the song more of a conversational aspect between two people than just one guy expressing his love for his partner”. Hamblen delivers a powerful, moving vocal, the female perspective adding emotional depth to the track and the album.
Try To Do Better feels like the locus of these thoughts, recognising that all you can do is try to do better, try to do the best you can whilst terrible shit happens. And after all, as Landress-Gibson philosophically sings, “It’s all temporary, the joy and the pain”, reminding us that this brief ‘vale of tears’, that we are all part of, will all be over soon enough. Baptized in the Flood is the final track and documents Landress-Gibson’s own experience of having his house flooded, and his possessions washed away. There are quite a few overtones of the Drive by-Truckers on this record, and none more so than on this track, which reminds both musically and story-wise of 2004’s Tornadoes.
Looking at his current tour schedule, it’s clear that he is most active in the Southeast USA. His musical style is certainly evocative of that region, yet his stories and life messages have a far greater resonance. This record has a direct, open style which is easy to get to grips with, yet has a significant emotional impact. This album is very listenable, with a high-quality cast of local supporting musicians, and a selection of infectious and endearing songs. As the title suggests, this album is about getting by, dealing with the challenges that life throws at us. The quality of the album also suggests that Landress-Gibson has an interesting and individual voice, one that’s worth keeping an eye on.
