While the Gibson Brothers’ overall sound is generally described as bluegrass music, it should be noted that there is also a strong element of hard, roots country that lives and breathes in their mix as well. That mix of traditional roots and country style is on full display throughout the duo’s latest release, Iron and Diamonds. Part of the magic of the Gibson Brothers’ sound is their ability to chose songs to take on and then take those songs and make them their own. Take for example their version of Steve Earle’s “The Other Side of Town”. If you had never heard either version of the song before and then after one listen had to decide who was singing whose song, you would swear that Gibson Brothers’ version was the original and it was Steve Earle who was covering them. Part of the reason for this are the rich vocals from both Eric and Leigh that seems to stretch back through time and give the song they’re singing both an age and an agelessness that Earle’s rougher sound could never achieve. Another fantastic song choice comes in the form of Tom Petty’s “Cabin Down Below”. This time around the Gibson Brothers showcase their hard-driving, contemporary bluegrass approach and apply it to a song from the world of southern rock. Heavy on the fiddle of Clayton Campbell, with a bouncing banjo beat from brother Eric, and accompanied by Rick Hayes on mandolin, this one almost settles into the territory of Del McCoury but with a lot less lonesome and a whole lot of high. And while we’ve focused quite a bit of time highlighting the songs that the brothers Gibson didn’t write, we can’t overlook the fact that, in addition to being superb vocalists and fine musicians, Eric and Leigh also know how to tell a story and catch our ears with a catchy turn of phrase. Their storytelling is on full display in the album’s title track which tells the tale of their upstate New York home and the toils of work and the joys of play that are woven into the very fabric of mining towns up and down the mountain chains of New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. For the men in the northern reaches of the Empire State the work was in the iron mines and the joy was found in the game of baseball. It is best described as “a life of iron and diamonds.” Other highlights on Iron and Diamonds include the upbeat and light harmony found on another of Eric and Leigh’s original numbers “Picker’s Blues”, which in its feel sort of reminds me of John Hartford’s “Gentle on My Mind,” the straight-ahead bluegrass number “Bloom Off the Rose,” and another great cover tune in the form of Julie Miller’s “Somewhere Trouble Don’t Go.” Iron and Diamonds in some ways seems like an appropriate title not only for the Gibson Brothers’ music, but for the heart of their music as well. Strong traditions born in mountain towns by hard-working people. Strong music traditions whose roots run deep into the ground. The green grass lining the country diamond where grown men go to play under clear blue sparkling skies. The sounds of bluegrass and country lines played by grown men clear and sparkling like diamonds in the sky. Both sides now. Iron and Diamonds.