Low Gap riding high at Holmes County Fair with old favorites and news tunes, too

Kevin Lynch, Wooster Daily Record
·3 min read

MILLERSBURG − Playing in front of a hundred or so friends and familiar faces, fans they've grown up with, is preferable to playing in front of a bunch of strangers for musician brothers Phin and Gus Johnson of Winesburg, the dynamic duo known as Low Gap.

If things keep progressing, however, they will see a lot more unfamiliar faces in the audiences for their shows.

Low Gap, country/Americana musicians from Winesbug, burst onto the national scene last year with their hit single Mockingbird. Low Gap took center stage at the Holmes County Fair Friday night, performing on the Stage on the Green with their uncle Glen Caudill sitting in on drums and Dave Williams on bass.
Low Gap, country/Americana musicians from Winesbug, burst onto the national scene last year with their hit single Mockingbird. Low Gap took center stage at the Holmes County Fair Friday night, performing on the Stage on the Green with their uncle Glen Caudill sitting in on drums and Dave Williams on bass.

The country/Americana musicians burst onto the national scene last year with their hit single Mockingbird. Low Gap took center stage at the Holmes County Fair Friday night performing on the Stage on the Green with their uncle Glen Caudill sitting in on drums and Dave Williams on bass. Caudill plays in the country band Double Barrel and Williams plays in a tribute band called Sudden Change.

The band played two 12-set sessions Friday, introducing some new original songs, some old country classics and their popular song Mockingbird, which is in the regular rotation of music played on Millersburg radio station WKLM.

Gus Johnson is a second-year student at the University of Cincinnati. He is the singer and rhythm guitar player. Phin Johnson, a junior at Hiland High School, plays mandolin and lead guitar.
Gus Johnson is a second-year student at the University of Cincinnati. He is the singer and rhythm guitar player. Phin Johnson, a junior at Hiland High School, plays mandolin and lead guitar.

Playing at the Holmes County Fair is like playing in their own backyard, where they actually got started entertaining family and friends. The played several original songs from their initial album and added some new ones from their forthcoming record.

"Playing the Holmes County Fair is pretty awesome," Gus said. "We're kind of friends with everybody here. Plus, we don't have to drive as far as we do to get to some of our other gigs, like in Pittsburgh, West Virginia or Kentucky."

They are both involved in 4-H. The Johnson brothers show pigs and ducks when they're not working on their music. Gus had the grand champion duck this year.

A big break on YouTube

Phin said things probably wouldn't have taken off so fast for the band if it hadn't been for YouTuber Grady Smith, who rated their song Mockingbird as the No. 2 up-and-coming song in a 2022 music survey.

"After he mentioned us in a couple of videos, people in Nashville started talking to us," he said.

Gus is a second-year student at the University of Cincinnati. He is the singer and rhythm guitar player. Phin, a junior at Hiland High School plays mandolin and lead guitar.

"These fans who follow us are people who have seen us when we were really bad, and now they're seeing us when we're getting pretty good," Phin said. "They're here because they actually want to hear us. They'll let us know if they don't like the new stuff."

Gus and Phin Johnson write most of the songs the duo performs. Their writing style is evolving as well the inspiration for the songs they write.
Gus and Phin Johnson write most of the songs the duo performs. Their writing style is evolving as well the inspiration for the songs they write.

Gus and Phin write most of the songs the duo performs. Their writing style is evolving as well the inspiration for the songs they write.

"I've been pretty good at writing sad songs, but we've been working at writing more up-tempo, higher energy, faster songs," Gus said. "We're also trying to write about things you wouldn't expect. Instead of writing a love song, we'll write about a road trip or something new like that."

The show must go on

When Gus heads off to school next month in Cincinnati, the brothers will still do a few shows a month, practicing on their own.

"We never stop. There's no real long break for us," Phin said.

"I plan to come home (from school) to do some shows on the weekends," Gus said. "There's a lot of travel involved."

Gus adds the most important thing for them when they're not together is to stay consistent with their social media and marketing.

Evening event at the Holmes County Fair.
Evening event at the Holmes County Fair.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Winesburg band Low Gap a high point at Holmes Fair Friday evening