There’s a reason why Ricky Skaggs pulled Eric and Leigh Gibson off the stage at the Ryman two decades ago and offered to produce their debut record. The Gibson Brothers are the real deal. They can pick, they can sing. and they can write a damn good country song. They’ve won about every bluegrass award you can name and released albums on almost every premier Americana label you can think of including Sugar Hill and Rounder. Growing up on a dairy farm in northern New York and then traveling around the world in a bluegrass band has given them a unique vantage point on life, and the songs on “Darkest Hour” are a testament to that. The result is arguably the strongest record The Gibson Brothers have ever made. The songs recorded in the first recording period featured Mike Barber (bass), Justin Moses (mandolin), Eamon McGloughlin (fiddle), and of course, Jerry Douglas, adding in John Gardner (drums), Guthrie Trapp (electric guitar), and Todd Parks (bass) for the final tracks, “Darkest Hour” showcases just how easily Eric and Leigh move from what Dan Auerbach dubbed “country soul” (“I Go Driving”) to high octane bluegrass (“What a Difference A Day Makes” and “Dust”)