Jim Gipson

The 12 Bar Club is located in "Tin Pan Alley" (Denmark Street), London's music capital and is one of the smallest venues in the city. It is housed in a building which started out as a stable in 1635 and then became a forge, the fireplace of which is still visible at the back of the stage. With an alleged capacity of 150, and a great view from the balcony where there's only room for about half a dozen people, it is certainly an ambient and intimate space.



Jim Gipson has gradually been making an impression in recent months. Formerly the lead singer of Black Night Crash and based in York, he moved to London in 2006, his Yorkshire accent only apparent when he chats between songs in a softly spoken voice. Gipson has played support slots with Richard Hawley, Boy Kill Boy and Nick Harper. He has a few more gigs with Hawley this month and plays the Great Escape Festival in Brighton in May. Dermot O'Leary has been championing him for a while and he played a live session on Dermot's Radio 2 show a few weeks ago.

This evening at the 12 Bar is a promo night - there are four other energetic and noisy bands playing and Gipson seems out of place amongst them. He arrives on stage calmly, looking like a young Mike Scott, and launches into a set of perfectly honed songs. He sings earnestly and exudes a quiet, measured confidence that is completely justified as it is evident from the opening bars that he is extremely talented.



Gipson sings alone with his acoustic guitar and has a surprisingly big voice for his waif-like frame. His vocals have shades of both Buckleys though I can hear more of Tim in his acoustic folk stylings and soaring falsetto moments. There are touches of Gram Parsons and an alt-country feel to the music. He's clearly been studying Dylan too and the lyrics are poetic and emotionally charged. The strumming and structure of 'Heaven Sent' and 'Miles and Miles' are particularly Dylanesque. Some of the words are incredibly bleak – 'Black Heart' opens with "My heart is black and deathly cold, what lies beneath this wretched soul" and closes "…I’ll deceive and ruin you girl, I'll bring death into your world". Despite the dark lyrics, none of the songs sound depressing, just riveting, and the crowd, after being quite frenzied, is rooted to the spot and look awestruck whilst he's singing.



Gipson appears incredibly young and fragile but the songs have a powerful raw beauty which have mesmerised tonight's crowd and I hope he doesn't lose that when he inevitably gets signed to a major label. I'll certainly be looking out for the debut album.

Set List:
Black Heart
Heaven Sent
Kill Me Once Again Lover
London Town
Other Side
Miles and Miles
Wounded Soul
Revolution

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.