Acoustic Star Andy Gibson Talks Family, His Bull Frog Dog & Sings in Spanish

Andy Gibson is one of the stars taking the stage for our second Acoustic Show October 1st at Rome Capitol Theatre.

Andy Gibson enjoys time on the road but he also likes to come home to his dog Teddy. ‘He’s a French bulldog, but when he sits down he kind of looks like a frog because his legs spread out.’

Music
Andy is on his second single ‘Summer Back’ after his debut, ‘I Wanna Make You Love Me.’ But he also wrote a song you may remember. He’s the guy behind ‘Don’t You Wanna Stay’ by Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson. ‘They’re both pretty good and I think it did ok.’ Andy watched their amazing live performance on the CMA Awards at a friend’s house. ‘I didn’t have a television at the time and my friend invited me over to watch it. It was so exciting I couldn’t even do anything. I was frozen in the chair. I couldn’t believe someone was singing a song I had written. It was crazy.’

Jason Aldean wasn’t the only artist eyeing the tune. ‘A couple other artists put it on hold but it never made it on an album. I won’t name any of them but I know someone asked Rascal Flatts if they’d ever passed on a song that had gone well and Gary said ‘Well, I think that ‘Don’t You Wanna Stay’ did pretty good.’

Odd Jobs
Andy had a number of jobs in Nashville just to make ends meet. ‘I was waiting tables, I was a janitor, playing restaurants at night, trying to do whatever you can to make it in this crazy music business.’ He’s ready to do whatever it takes to make it. ‘It’s definitely worth it. I think it makes you appreciate everything you have when it comes.’

One of those jobs was at a Mexican restaurant, singing in Spanish. Andy has been speaking Spanish since he was a kid ‘I always had a love for the language, the people and the food. So I took country songs and translated them into Spanish.'  Hear him sing a bit of Big & Rich's 'Lost in This Moment.'

Family Life
Andy’s musical talents come from his father who wrote the theme song for the movie ‘The Endless Summer’ which sold over a million copies. ‘His musical experience has helped me a ton and he’s always been my number one fan. He goes on the road with me and is willing to fill in whenever there’s a chance.’

Andy gets his work ethic from his family who had him helping flip houses as a child. ‘When we were kids, there were 5 of us, so it was a cheap source of labor. We’d buy a house, gut it, refurbish it and then sell it. It kept us all out of trouble and we got to learn a lot of useful skills. I’m pretty handy around the house.’ And he’s single ladies!

Cigar Box Guitar
Andy made his first guitar at the age of 5 out of a cigar box ‘It sounded horrible, but it was functional and it got me started. My parents eventually bought me a real one when I got older.’ Does he still have his childhood creation? ‘I wish I did.’

Hobbies
Free time is scarce these days for Andy, but when he’s not on the road he likes to ‘hang out with my dog Teddy. I love going to the lake. I love to surf, any kind of outdoor activity. I love to get outside.’

Musical Heroes
In the last few years Andy has had the privilege of sharing the stage with a number of great artists, but who’s his favorite? ‘There are so many. Vince Gill is probably my favorite. He’s so amazing. On the female side, I’d have to go with Sara Evans.’

Andy has no preference over live shows with all the bells and whistles or a more intimate stripped down concert like our acoustic show ‘I like it all. As long as I get to play, I’m happy.’ And he’s been on the same stage as Randy Houser before, so it’ll be like a homecoming.

Randy Houser and Andy Gibson join Heidi Newfield for our second Acoustic show at Rome Capitol Theatre October 1st.  Doors open at 6pm, show starts at 7pm.