Daughn Gibson

All Hell (White Denim)

Daughn Gibson’s been a trucker and a heavy metal drummer, and now he writes haunted country songs. The Pennsylvanian’s debut album All Hell whistles both inviting and peculiar in equal measure, a cadaverous reimagining of paved-over Americana. The dusted strut to “Tiffany Lou” feels like a ghost story for broken hearts, while discombobulated bluegrass “In the Beginning” seems to reverberate from long lost generational memories. Onstage, Gibson invites these faded textures from a laptop, but his music plays as old and displaced – our very own poltergeist Elvis. He mutates meaningless honky-tonk cliches (“love me do,” “empty highway”) and suddenly they feel shockingly fresh. All Hell unleashes a songwriter: a brief taste of seductive potential. We’ll be watching. (Sat., Blue stage, 1:45pm)

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This article appears in November 2 • 2012.

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