Susan Gibson

“New Dog, Old Tricks” recaptures and reinvents two songs co-written with ex-bandmate Scott Melott. Look for a hauntingly desperate but utterly timely delivery of “Miles City,” a song so cloaked in despair that it clings to the listener long past the last note. The frustrated communicator comes out in “Walls Come Down,” a moody piece with a pop/rock edge.Both songs represent the versatility of Gibson’s songwriting prowess and underscore the “huge emotional growth” she’s undergone since the Groobees disbanded. “New Dog, Old Tricks” reflects what others will say has been a circuitous route to her own good fortune, but Gibson has gotten there, nonetheless, and listeners will be thankful for it.

Along with the reclamation of her Groobee words, she’s included co-writes with Adam Carroll and Mark Jungers (“Start Over,”) as well as Maureen Ennis and Mark Murphy (“What’d I Ever Worry ‘Bout Before I Met You.”) Either track could drop as a single, but the first one rocks in hard, and the latter, lullabies a listener out. While you could probably find either one on the local juke box, don’t expect to hear Gibson’s only new solo writing effort on this disc there. “Baby Teeth” is Gibson in her resplendent simplicity and one should instead look for this song to crack the kiddie-sing-along noise barrier with its pop merriment and baby-boomers-with-babies appeal while it takes a few old timers to their knees in a Farmer’s Almanac faint.

Gibson’s co-write with Houston’s TC Smythe, “Jezable’s Lament,” is fitting testimony to her long-time roadie and virtual sidekick, Jezable the Dog, who recently died of old age. “New Dog, Old Tricks” is Gibson’s nod to Jezable’s service in the music industry, and to the two road hounds that recently replaced her, Guilda and Nick, who not only “keep the crazies away,” according to Gibson, but lately have been “better about” not chewing up her stuff. (Well, until just recently. Check out the right toe of Gibson’s favorite cowboy boots.) Gibson’s canine companions are rescue dogs, and fittingly enough, a portion of this record’s proceeds will benefit the non-profit and its as-of-yet not-adopted population of rescued pets.

“New Dog, Old Tricks” is also about Gibson’s affinity for words: all of the songs are songs Gibson plays at her shows. Gibson’s older fans have long demanded a revisit of the older stuff, and the newer fans wanted access to the records that even she no longer had access to. Gibson addressed both issues with “New Dog, Old Tricks” and the resulting musical collaboration is what Gibson originally envisioned with her songs, making the project all that much sweeter.

Under the production helm of Walt Wilkins and Tim Lorsch, the new record features legendary drummer Paul Pearcy, the incomparable Michael O’Connor (along with Gabe Rhodes in a fiery double-lead guitar role) and John Greenburg on baritone guitar. David Carroll joins them on bass, and Lorsch also appears on the violin, lowboy, and mandolin. All of it is recorded at the Zone, a top-rated studio tucked in the sleepy hill country hamlet of Dripping Springs.

Hence, a solo project as much about money and marketing as it is about who Gibson was and who she is today: a singer, a songwriter, a musician, a manager, a booking agent, a roadie, an accountant, and more. Susan Gibson is the quintessential entrepreneur in a global market, yet she is her own product and service. Gibson is the whole package, and her performances are empowering, because with the release of “New Dog, Old Tricks” Gibson has shown us the real dichotomy of a songwriter: Gibson has shown us what it means to get some pieces of our self back while still willing to keep giving other pieces away.