The shoes of blues legend Eric Bibb still have many more miles in them, despite being placed upon feet 72 years young.
The troubadour began his journeying many moons ago, setting sail from the folk scene of '60s New York headed for Paris, before finding a forever home in Stockholm. Along the way, Bibb's winding career met many of the folk and blues royalty variety, and as the decades passed, many awards and multiple Grammy nominations flowed in.Music was prescribed upon Bibb, it surrounded his early years. Aged seven, he was armed with his tool to change the world – his first guitar; and at age eleven, Bob Dylan handed him some guitar advice.
"We're talking about a long time ago," Bibb reminisces with a chuckle. "I grew up in a house of music. My dad and uncle were professional musicians. From about age five, I knew that music was gonna be my path.
"It was just such a part of my life, I flowed into it. It wasn't a big epiphany. I just loved music, I loved the guitar, I loved the world that I found myself in with wonderful musicians and music all around. I never gave it a second thought. I don't know if I knew as much as I was following my nose, which kept being led by this wonderful fragrance."
Bibb has long been a beloved staple of preserving the tradition of blues, but the last 12 months has seen an explosive shift towards the entire world recognising the talent and sacrifice of a man just as passionate and optimistic as the bright-eyed migrant of his 20s.
The 2023 release of his album 'Ridin'' has drawn critical acclaim, as some brand it his late life classic. Bibb perhaps agrees. "It feels wonderful that the album has had such a huge response on so many levels, because it is probably my most important work.
"I have to thank Glen Scott, my producer, an amazing colleague and like-minded soul who frames my songs to the listener in a comfortable, enjoyable way. It's a cumulative thing. I've been making records a long time. You get closer to your core truths and what's important.
"It's an amazing opportunity to share songs that are spread around the world. You have to take it very seriously, which I do. I'm an entertainer, but there are other things that are priorities as well, not just to keep people's feet tapping, but to keep people thinking about who they are, who I am and who we are as a group, how we're treating each other. All of that seems to be baked into the culture of the music that I'm a part of."
Bibb reflects on the journey of finding creative synergy. "It's a process that doesn't happen overnight. It's a trial and error thing. I've had wonderful connections take place over several decades.
"It's like a marriage, you get to know each other. You find a way of communicating not always with words, it's almost telepathic at a certain point. The more you appreciate the way you're working with somebody, the more refined it becomes.
"I'm fortunate to have attracted people who get what I'm trying to say. It's an attraction thing, like-minded people gravitate towards each other in a natural way. You can't dictate it and micromanage it. You have to trust the universe. You ask for your compadres, your companions. You ask for the people who can help you.
"This is the first time in my career where I've had a complete, well-functioning, harmonious, groovy team of people all pulling in the same direction. I feel like I deserve it. It's taken awhile but these things take awhile. You don't get Rome in a day."
One track from 'Ridin'' that has resonated significantly with listeners is Bibb's version of a traditional folk song, '500 Miles', a moving, broody ode to times far gone, but yet, feel close. "I'll give you a little history," Bibb offers, "that song began as a traditional folk song, nobody knows who first came up with it.
"It was called '900 Miles', and there was a banjo player named Hedy West, a wonderful singer on the folk scene during the '50s and '60s. Hedy streamlined that tune and made it '500 Miles', chopped off 400 miles of the journey," he laughs.
"Like many attractive folk songs in that era, many people ended up singing that. My dad made a recording in the '60s that I love. Peter, Paul and Mary had the most famous version. It was circulating on the folk scene at the time I was coming of age. I am so glad I included it on the 'Ridin'' album."
Bibb garnered influence from many spaces and faces, holding a few still close to his chest. "Joan Baez was one of the first artists who I was really consciously aware of as a self-accompanying singer who was a role model. Her first album, I remember the cover specifically. Odetta, big influence, Judy Collins another one, Lead Belly earlier on. All of those people in the folk renaissance were influences on me."
Bibb also draws from his musical companions, searching for things he loves and eventually, always finding them, as he did playing with kora master Lamine Cissokho. "It's like a harp lute. It's a West African instrument with 21 strings usually, a beautiful instrument I've been in love with for many decades.
"I've always been on the hunt for a kora player to collaborate with. I've befriended and collaborated with several during my journey. Lamine is living here in Sweden, he's from Senegal. We work together often. He's on the latest record that's going to be released in April called 'Live At The Scala Theatre'. He's part of the band and I love playing with him. That instrument is in my top three favourite instruments."
The 'Live At The Scala Theatre' album will be accompanying Bibb, as he ties up his shoes for some more miles yet, landing on Australian shores for Blues On Broadbeach as part of a wider national tour in May-June.
"It was recorded in Stockholm. We had a wonderful, ambitious evening that turned out really cool. I can't wait for it to be released. I'll have that record with me when I come down to Oz. It'll be available at the signing table. I've been [to Australia] maybe eight times. I love it more every time. It feels like a second home."
Playing alongside Bibb at Blues On Broadbeach will be many legends including Melissa Etheridge, whose presence prompts the question of Bibb's favourite female guitarists.
"One of my first guitar heroes was the wonderful Odetta, who has passed on. Going back in time, Memphis Minnie, an amazing guitarist, an amazing performer. Lately, the person that comes to mind is a little gal from Ireland, she's 17 years old. Her name is Muireann Bradley, she's a great finger picker of the old-school country blues and she's just marvellous.
"I don't know how she's gotten it together to the degree that she has at such a young age, but it's phenomenal. God works in mysterious ways, to see this young Irish waif playing swinging country blues and singing with such finesse. She's somebody to look out for."
As a man and artist who has dedicated his life to inspiring others and truth telling, bringing hope and a lightness not many can, Bibb has learnt much about his craft, and he holds it in the highest esteem.
"Music is vibrations, a spectrum of vibrations. Everything is vibratory. We are affected by vibrations of different kinds in different ways. Music is a bit of a mystery. You can't eat it, you can't touch it, you can't see it. You can feel it and you can hear it.
"It's a gift from the divine, and it's amazing to me to discover over time that certain combinations of notes, certain intervals, certain melodies, certain chords, certain keys, certain rhythms seem to have, universally, a very uplifting effect on people.
"If I think of just one genre, gospel music, this music that has basically sustained a whole people through centuries of duress, and not only that, it's a music that has been exported to and embraced by the whole world. This is a universal quality we're talking about.
"God's gift to humans is music. Particularly people who are undergoing great challenges, war, famine, slavery. Music is the balm that soothes the soul and makes you wanna keep going on."
Blues On Broadbeach (Gold Coast) takes place at various locations 16-19 May, 2024, with the main line-up free to attend.
Blues On Broadbeach 2024 Line-up
Jon Cleary & The Absolute Monster GentlemenDallas Frasca
Chase The Sun
Take Me To The River featuring Hi Rhythm Section with Boo Mitchell
8 Ball Aitken & Friends – All Star Blues Jam
Fat Freddy's Drop
Tijuana Cartel
BOOMCHILD
Karl S. Williams
Hussy Hicks
Buddy Knox
Cass Eager
The Bad Dad Orchestra
Ruby Jackson
Minnie Marks
Sweet Thunder
Airborne Blues Virus
Hayley Grace & The Bay Collective
JB's Blues Breakers
Anna Scionti
Aaron Pollock
Dillion James Band
Jimi Beavis Trio
Bill Barber & The Holding Cell
Who join the already announced:
Melissa Etheridge
Samantha Fish & Jesse Dayton
Ana Popovic
Eric Bibb
Lloyd Spiegel
Hat Fitz & Cara
Shaun Kirk
Checkerboard Lounge
Sweet Felicia And The Honeytones
Li'l Chuck The One Man Skiffle Machine
The Mezcaltones
Don Hopkins
C.J. Lee
Rod Paine & The Fulltime Lovers
The Band Ham
Rory Ellis & Christian Marsh
Slips And The F.W.'s
Kerbside Collection
Eric Bibb 2024 Tour Dates
Fri 17 May - Blues On Broadbeach (Gold Coast)Sat 18 May - Blues On Broadbeach (Gold Coast)
Sun 19 May - Lizotte's (Newcastle)* two shows
Thu 23 May - Street Theatre (Canberra)
Fri 24 May - The Concourse (Sydney)
Sat 25 May - Trinity Sessions (Adelaide)
Thu 30 May - Theatre Royal (Hobart)
Fri 31 May - Theatre Royal (Castlemaine)
Sat 1 Jun - National Theatre (Melbourne)
Sun 2 Jun - Burrinja Cultural Centre (Melbourne)
