Review: The Gibson Brothers, and Sara Milonovich and Daisycutter at Music Haven on Sunday, July 19, 2026
“Creativity has no address,” said former ad man and current North Country TV chief Jesse Jackson on winning a national TV commercial award.
Neither has bluegrass, as North Country creatives the Gibson Brothers and Sara Milonovich proved at Music Haven Sunday. Both built from the particular to the universal with music that often described a snowy homeland but whose emotional truth and sonic power reached out to everywhere.
The Gibson Brothers above; Eric at left, Leigh to the right. Below: Sara Milonovich
Milonovich opened; 45 minutes of well-received originals old and new and some covers. Her Daisycutter crew played and sang like the seasoned pros they are: Boo Reiners, banjo and electric guitar; Greg Anderson, guitar; and Bob Buckley, bass. Milonovich grabbed and held the spotlight, a star with voice and fiddle.
Some originals told local tales. “87 North,” for example, is their “Route 66” or “Highway 61,” minus the romance but with icy spots and hot fiddle and banjo. “Hope You Like What We Did with the Place” decries Adirondacks gentrification by come-here folks, like Michael Jerling’s “How Can People Live Like That.” Others spun out wider; any touring musician could relate to “Last Resort Motor Inn,” Sara M’s high strong voice recounting the sleaze of the place, washed away in a serene fiddle break. Maybe the only bluegrass crew on the road that covers Led Zeppelin, their late-set highlight of Zep’s “Friends” hit hard, but lyrical. (They’d opened with Josh Ritter’s [geo-specific/universal] folkie “Lawrence, KS.”) An album in the making sourced the devotional “Planting and Harvest,” a strong live number that helped earn a standing ovation for a compressed but strong showcase.
Sara Milonovich and Daisycutter. from left: Boo Reiners, Milonovich Buckley and Greg Anderson
The Gibson Brothers came on with a quiet confidence so laid back they could have come from Tulsa rather than a farm near Ellenburg Depot. Afterwards, as Eric Gibson greeted fans at the lip of the stage, avid setlist collector JD requested theirs. “We don’t have any,” Gibson laughed. The whole 75-minute set seemed spontaneous; song choices, warm and loose, like NRBQ.
The Gibson Brothers and band, from left: Jason Carter, Eric Gibson, Leigh Gibson, Michael Barber, Cody Kilby
Playing and singing, though: world-class tight. After a blinding Jason Carter fiddle rip rapid as a horse race, Leigh told his bandmates he wanted to play “something slower.” They chose “They Called it Music” whose description of it – “it was honest, it was simple, and it helped in hard times” – rang like a mission statement.
Some spoke serious sentiments: Barry and Holly Tashian’s “Home” and the loyal “Friend of Mine” – their famed musical DNA brother harmonies warming the words with honest, simple sentiment. Others ripped and romped, including travel tunes – the honky-tonk swagger “Walking West to Memphis” and Bill Monroe’s high-momentum “Roll On Buddy, Roll On” – also the party imperative “Shut Up and Dance.”
Eric Gibson, above; Leigh Gibson, below
A tremendous vocal duo, each brother also sang strongly alone, Eric in a higher tenor than 11-months younger Leigh. Consolingly slow or caffeinated-quick, the playing dazzled. While Eric took a few fine guitar or banjo breaks and Leigh soloed a verse or two in multi-guitar pile-ons, Carson’s fiddle and Cody Kilby’s mandolin and guitar solo work lit things up. Bassist Michael Barber, aboard the Gibson’s bus for 33 years played in brilliant unobtrusive perfection.
National stars, they localized some; Leigh – the brother in the cowboy hat – noted he’d lived on Schenectady’s Gillespie Street and Carter recalled a first date at Music Haven with the woman he’d marry.
Jason Carter, above; Cody Kilbey, below
Michael Barber, left, and Cody Kilbey
They celebrated family, bringing out Eric’s son Kelley John Gibson to sing the songwriter’s classic announcement “I Got a New One.” (The earlier “Almost Proud” offered wry contrast.) Leigh thanked their mother for saying “You’ve lost weight” even when he hadn’t.
They simmered things down with the gentle “My Quiet Mind,” then the happy domestic “Homemade Wine” closed the set before an eager departure-less rocking encore “Highway.”
Few fans danced; at times the Gibsons played so fast dancers risked whiplash. But whoops and hollers rose from the crowd in upbeat numbers. Then, at the end, everybody rose.
Sara Milonovich, and the Gibson Brothers, will play Caffe Lena this fall; Josh Ritter, too.
Music Haven’s free presentations continue Saturday at 2 p.m. with the seven-band WEXT Local 518 Fest of local rock, pop and hip-hop acts. Sunday Music Haven presents singer Elida Almeida from the Cape Verde Islands whose team surprised big time at the World Cup.
Gallery
Boo Reiners, above and below
Bob Buckley, above; Greg Anderson, below
Kelley John Gibson, center, between Jason Carter and Eric Gibson, Kelley’s father
Hoke's Jukebox 