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Photo by Jim Craven Kenny Gibson shows off his haircutting stuff while working on Medford model Sabrina Dent at the Craterian Sunday. Cutting up at the Crate Specialist shows hair techniques for home crowd By BILL KETTLER Sixty hairdressers gave up Sunday's sunshine and blue sky to watch a Sams Valley boy who made the big time. Kenny Gibson cuts hair and travels the world showing off new looks for a Texas-based cosmetic company called Tony & Guy. But the Sams Valley native came home over the weekend to visit family and present a haircutting demonstration at the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater. Gibson and a team of stylists and makeup artists showed hairdressers how to make the cuts that show up in fashion books and teen magazines. Gibson entertained them with salon war stories and practical advice. "Clients want something different," he said. "They want something new. If we don't have ideas they're going to go someplace else. "It doesn't matter where you live," he said. "There are plenty of good salons. There are good hairdressers everywhere you go." Gibson, 37, the son of David and Laureen Patterson of Central Point, turned to cutting hair after he graduated from Crater High School in 1980 because it met his criteria for a job. "I was just looking for something to do for a couple of years," he said. "I could wear the clothes I wanted. I could wear the hair I wanted. And I could be around ladies." Gibson will soon move to New York to open the company's newest salon. "We have a brilliant location," he said. "Right in the middle of midtown, on Madison Avenue, a block from Central Park." More than 200 tickets were presold for Gibson's show, but many stylists apparently decided they needed a day of sunshine more than a day of styling tips. Those who showed up in spite of the sunshine said an afternoon with Gibson compensated for missing the first 90-degree weekend day of the season. "It was a very down-to-earth show," said Marla Cross of Medford. "We don't get very many good shows." "I saw some really good color techniques," said Joyce Hess of Rogue River. "It's really rejuvenating and exciting." Gibson said his airplane ride into Medford showed him how much the Rogue Valley has changed in the 15 years he's been gone. "There are houses everywhere where there used to be fields," he said. "A lot of the openness is gone." Gibson works in Dallas, but he said it's not necessary to travel to a metropolitan area of 4 million people and spend $90 to get a quality haircut. "It's all the same," he said. "The perception is `bigger city, better styles, more talent.' Hairdressing is a mentality, not a locality. "The looks we've done, maybe they were doing them in London or Stockholm, and that makes it sound really worldly, but it's all the same." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA