Genre:
Acoustic Rock
,
Blues
,
Country
,
Country Rock
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Monday, October 11 7:30 PM
(All ages)
Eric was born In New York into a musical family. Eric's father, Leon Bibb, is a trained singer who sang in musical theatre and made a name for himself as part of the 1960's New York folk scene. His uncle was the world famous jazz pianist and composer John Lewis, of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Family friends included Pete Seeger, Odetta and actor/singer/activist Paul Robeson, Eric's godfather.
A performance by Eric Bibb is an enriching experience – both musically and spiritually. Purveying a beautifully realised and deftly accomplished, soulful and gospel infused, folk- blues, Eric has no problem melding a traditional rootsy American style with a subtle contemporary sensibility. As one critic wrote, “Eric’s singing and versatile guitar playing fuses a variety of genres to become a New World Blues.”
On Eric's latest album, he channels delta guitar master Booker White to craft blues for a new era. The story is as legendary as Robert Johnson at the crossroads, as old as the blues itself. A traveling musician has a chance encounter in the most unlikely of places with something mystical and powerful, and everything changes. Suddenly, everything is up for grabs, and the music - already rich and historically resonant - takes a whole new direction.
So it was for itinerant troubadour Eric Bibb one night in a London hotel after a gig just a few years ago, when he was approached by a fan carrying a guitar case. Inside the case was a relic from the past that made the hair on the back of Bibb's neck stand on end: a 1930s vintage Resophonic National steel-body guitar that had belonged to Delta blues legend Booker White. In a moment that could only be described as intoxicating, Bibb found himself holding Booker's guitar, and catching a brief but revealing glimpse of all the stories locked within it.
The encounter inspired a song, and the song became an entire album - one that captures the spirit of the original Delta blues of the early 20th century and reinterprets it for a new era.
“That Bibb found his Delta muse through White’s guitar underscores this powerful, intimate album. It’s quiet, soulful music that closely resembles Bibb’s acoustic performances: just voice, guitar and harmonica.” -Blues Revue
What a gorgeous recording featuring mostly just Bibb, nimble-fingered, expressive and strong on acoustic guitar, and singing in a sandy/velvety baritone…Eric Bibb is magnificent in any style, but here in the context of paying tribute to White, he’s made a career-defining album that illuminates and actually enhances the Delta blues experience. Fans of Keb’ Mo’ will love this CD.” -Hittin’ The Note
“Bibb possesses a warmly expressive, unexcitable voice and a fine sense of phrasing. He shines, too, as a guitarist with a quiet and confident approach…With his matchless ease and a poet’s sensibility, he has made Booker’s Guitar the consummation of his affair of the heart, accompanied only by the superb less-is-more harmonica player Grant Dermody.” -DownBeat
Grant Dermody is a local Seattle musician who's harmonica playing is prominently featured on the new album.
For more Info visit: http://www.ericbibb.com/ and http://www.myspace.com/paulaboggs