Gibson set compass for Rounder

Brothers Eric and Leigh Gibson announced Monday they are signing with Rounder after having most recently been with Compass, and will release a new CD in January 2015. The Gibsons fulfilled their contract with Compass and were free to sign with any label.

In 2013, the International Bluegrass Music Association voted them Entertainers of the Year and Vocal Group of the Year, and they also took home awards for Song of the Year (for "They Called It Music") and Songwriter of the Year (Eric Gibson).

"We have known and been fans of the Gibson Brothers for years, and we are thrilled to finally be able to work with them," said Rounder's Ken Irwin. "The brother duet has a long history in bluegrass and country music, and the Gibsons have represented that tradition with class and style for over 20 years. We all feel that this wonderful album will carry on that great tradition of old-time brother duets, from the Monroe Brothers and Blue Sky Boys in the '30s, and into bluegrass with the Bailey Brothers, Lilly Brothers and Stanley Brothers in the '40s and Jim and Jesse in the '50s."

Eric Gibson said, "As kids on the farm, we spent many hours listening to records, many of them on Rounder, a name synonymous with quality. We remember absorbing Tony Rice's 'Cold on the Shoulder,' the first J. D. Crowe & the New South album, and offerings from the Bluegrass Album Band, looking at that identifiable logo and wishing that one day we would be affiliated with Rounder, a beacon in the roots music world. That day has come. We are so excited to have signed with Rounder and cannot wait for people to hear our first Rounder project, a tribute to the great brother acts in bluegrass and country music history."

The New York natives made their recording debut with "Underneath a Harvest Moon" in 1994. They recorded three albums for Hay Holler four for Sugar Hill and three for Compass, including "They Called It Music" last year.