Gibson brothers set for pair of sold-out shows at Caffe Lena

Performing professionally since 1988, the Gibson Brothers — who will play Saturday night for two sold-out shows at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs — have multiple International Bluegrass Music Association Awards and just happen to live in our area: Leigh in Glenville and Eric in Glens Falls.

In 2015, Eric Gibson told me their telepathic connection was downright scary.

“We try to come out firing and look at the crowd and try to judge what they want to hear,” he said. “So, when we decide what we’re gonna play as the crowd is applauding at the end of a song, we just back away, look at each other. One of us will say a song, and we say it at the same time.”

The siblings grew up in rural Ellenburg near the Canadian border, where their father made his living as a farmer. Bluegrass music has been as important to their lives as bailing hay when they were youngsters.

At a Christmas show in 2021 at Proctors in Schenectady, the Gibson Brothers welcomed their fans into their family. Backed by four masters of the strings and a drummer, the two brothers showcased their prowess as one of the top bluegrass acts in the world, and we all got to sit at the head table for Christmas dinner. Herewas a duo that debuted at the Grand Ole Opry in 2003, appeared on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion” in 2014 and received honorary doctorates of fine arts from the State University of New York during the spring commencement at SUNY Plattsburgh in 2015.

People often ask why the brothers don’t move to Nashville. Leigh Gibson says the answer is simple.

“I love music, but when you have family it’s not the only part of your life,” he said. “It’s a big part of our life, but it’s only part of your life. And if it’s not going well at the time, then you’re going to think your life isn’t good.”

In concert they are crack professionals who make it all look easy.

“All four Beatles gave our next album a thumbs up,” Leigh said with a wink at the Proctors show in 2021. The set list ranged from originals such as “Dick’s Country Store,” about a real store in the town of Morris in the North Country, to Flatt and Scruggs’s “Footprints on the Ground.”