Eric Bibb
(US)
blues, folk, gospel
Blues can be approached from several angles. Eric Bibb plays it from the viewpoint of acoustic folk and storytelling protest songs.
Born in New York in 1951, Eric literally grew in that tradition. His father, Leon Bibb, sang in music theatre and the Big Apple’s lively folk-scene in the 60’s. His father also had a TV show, where he led the house band. Film director Spike Lee’s dad Bill played the bass in that band, and later guested on Eric’s records.
Eric’s uncle was the pianist/composer John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet and family friends included many music scene icons, like folk singer Pete Seeger and his godfather, singer/actor/civil rights activist Paul Robeson. Eric got his first acoustic steel-string guitar at the age of 7 and a little later some good advice from Bob Dylan: “Keep it simple, forget all that fancy stuff”. Armed with those two things, Bibb has got far, though he first studied psychology and Russian for awhile in the university, before turning professional musician. Having lived for many years in Sweden and England, Eric has so far published 16 albums, like Home to Me, Natural Light and Get Onboard. His latest, Booker’s Guitar (2009), is inspired by the great delta blues man Bukka White and played on White’s National resonator guitar.