Spoken word artist Andrea Gibson’s performances routinely attract vocally responsive crowds in the hundreds. Her work is fueled by the energy of her audiences, and her powerhouse style makes lasting impressions on fans who may wait for hours to hear her speak about the challenges we face living in a society that has embraced the extremes of the American Dream.

Gibson, who is based in Denver, Colorado, visited and first performed in Portland on March 11th of this year. She says, “I had fallen in love with the city by performing for the crowd at In Other Words [Bookstore].” She returned to Portland on Sunday, June 14th for a 2:00 PM performance on the Pride Northwest 2009 main stage.  This month Gibson also releases her LP, Yellowbird.

While Gibson has toured since 2005, like so many who find the strength to speak against the norm, her voice arose from a humble beginning.  She had written poetry for years, and after a relationship ended, a heartbroken Gibson moved from New Orleans to Denver.  She was feeling little mattered until one evening in 2000 she faced her faced her stage fright and spoke before Vox Feminista, a Denver feminist performance organization with a 20 year history.

“The Denver scene is incredible,” says Gibson. “There isn’t a scene in this country that I like more. I’ve been able to gain a lot from it. Denver is such a random town.  The beat poets were here: Kerouac, Ginsberg.”

Naropa University in nearby Boulder, Colorado is home to Jack Kerouac’s School of Disembodied Poetics, founded in 1974 by Beat Generation poets Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman.

Gibson felt that she had truly found her calling one winter in New York City when 400 enthusiasts lined up in -20 degree weather for one of her performances.She expressed her appreciation for the emotional power she draws from conversational audiences, saying, “I love how the spoken word movement has inspired me.  It’s taught me a lot.”

Recognizing she is part of a broader literary community, Gibson encourages talented individuals to get the spoken word out, saying, “one of my general frustrations with political artists is that we aren’t more organized.”

By Nikki Jauron

 Find out more about Andrea Gibson’s spoken word online at www.andreagibson.com.