Alumna Sings The Blues

By Sharon Bivens

When Resa Gibbs sings, her earthy, soulful voice harkens listeners to a time long ago. A slower time, when juke joints dotted the rural South, and people gathered on their porches to listen to music and shoot the breeze.

Gibbs is the primary vocalist for M.S.G., an acoustic blues trio that performs traditional Piedmont blues, a style whose roots are from a region that stretches from the coastal plain to the Appalachian Mountains, and from Atlanta to Washington, D.C.

The group performs in the same tradition as legendary blues artists Archie Edwards, Etta Baker and Blind Boy Fuller, among others.

Founded five years ago, the trio is a part-time gig for Gibbs, who has worked as a physical therapist at Sentara Rehabilitation Services in Hampton since graduating from Old Dominion in 1985.

M.S.G. appears at festivals and schools throughout Virginia, and ventured back to Gibbs’ alma mater last fall to perform at the Literary Festival. The other members are Jackie Merritt (harmonica, vocals, guitar and bones) and guitarist Miles Spicer, known for his Piedmont style of playing, which features an alternating thumb bass pattern and finger-picking for the melody.

“Singing this type of music is like breathing to me,” Gibbs said. Her father, a podiatrist, was a singer for many years in the I. Sherman Greene Chorale, a popular local chorus founded in 1972. The group sang classical and traditional gospel music. Gibbs, who was inspired by the music, notes that her eclectic taste ranges from the soul-stirring gospel of Mahalia Jackson to the funky rhythms of Prince.

But there was something about the blues that touched her soul. “It was a natural migration for me to this music,” she explained. “Music is a healing force for me.”

Gibbs sang background on Gaye Adegbalola’s “Bitter Sweet Blues” CD, recorded by Alligator Records and produced by Rory Block. She was also lead vocalist with Fever Blues Band for two years, and for several years has been a featured artist with the Archie Edwards Blues Heritage Foundation.