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Gibson Block headlines the Golden Taps at Sound Festival

Edmonton’s The Gibson Block will be a big part of the lineup at The Golden Taps Saturday evening for the Golden Sound Festival.
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Gibson Block is part of the great lineup of performers at the Golden Sound Festival this weekend.

Edmonton’s The Gibson Block will be a big part of the lineup at The Golden Taps Saturday evening for the Golden Sound Festival and the audience can expect a high-energy rock show from the four-piece band.

“We’re a party crowd, we’re a really lively, energetic band,” said lead singer Sebastjohn King. “We’re going to keep everybody dancing as best we can. We’re here to make a little noise.”

It’s a variety of styles that highlights The Gibson Block, with blues, jazz, and funk fusion giving them a unique, full sound.

The band formed in 2010 but originally played cover music before they began writing and performing more and more of their own music in 2012.

“In those first years we were just playing in those motorcycle bars and just learning how to play live,” King said. “Towards the end of it, covers just weren’t satisfying…so we started to write…now I would say the transformation (to original music) is 100% complete.”

Lead guitarist Jon Lagore played with the band in the past but didn’t join the group full-time until their original guitarist moved to Toronto a little over a year ago. He became a part of what is now a collaborative writing team.

“Usually someone brings in some small idea or an outline of a song and they teach it to the rest of the band,” said Lagore. “Then we go over it and come up with more ideas.”

All of the group’s members hail from Alberta’s capital, and that has had an influence on both their lyrics and the name of the band itself. The Gibson Block is a historical building in Edmonton and is one of Canada’s oldest Flatiron buildings. It was built in 1913 and currently serves as a women’s shelter. It was drummer Denis Srigon’s idea to make that the name of the band itself.

“It is a very Edmonton name but at the same time we didn’t want to exclude ourselves from people outside of Edmonton who don’t know what the Gibson Block is,” King said. “For me that’s an opportunity for us to show people what it is.”

Because they were playing mostly cover tunes up until recently, they didn’t release any original work until this past January when they produced a self-titled EP of five songs.

To hear some of their music, check out their recent release online at thegibsonblock.com or watch music videos for their songs Without Me and My City on YouTube.