Tibbetts plays acoustic and electric guitar and exotic percussive instruments such as the kendang and kalimba.
On guitar he uses a string-bending technique to imitate a sarangi[3] while alternating between ambient soundscapes and electric distortion.
[4] He incorporates field recording, such as the footsteps in the track "Running" from Safe Journey and the chanting of Nepalese villagers on Big Map Idea.
When he was twelve years old, he started to play guitar and was attracted to the electric distortion of the Blind Joe Mendelbaum Blues Band.
He went to Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, where he experimented with distortion pedals and other devices that could be plugged into a guitar.
Tibbetts has cited jazz guitarist Bill Connors as an influence and the fingerstyle technique of Harvey Mandel.
He has collaborated with Norwegian hardingfele player Knut Hamre and Tibetan Buddhist nun Chöying Drolma.