It's no wonder that the veteran bluesman pursued a career in music, given his family connections with the industry, writes Tony Clayton-Lea
ERIC BIBB MIGHT NOT have the look of dishevelled world-weariness that distinguishes blues guitarists from, say, classical pianists, but that doesn't make him any the less able to express the kinds of emotions that the best blues so often do: heartache, emotional loss, sexual gain, the pain/pleasure principle that drives people to the exultant heights of joy and the depths of despair.
Born into a resolutely middle-class, some might say intellectual, family (his father, Leon Bibb, was part of New York's 1960s folk scene, his uncle was jazz pianist and composer John Lewis, of the Modern Jazz Quartet, his godfather was Paul Robeson; family friends/acquaintances included Bob Dylan, blues singer Odetta, Judy Collins and roots pioneer Pete Seeger), Eric isn't one to alter or mythologise his past in order to be on speaking terms with the spurious notion of cool. He readily admits that his family background was special.
"As I was growing up, I was aware I was privileged in general," he considers, "but also privileged culturally to be able to meet and to have something to do with some seminal figures in music. It wasn't until I was older that I had a chance to reflect on who it was I had been talking to years previously, and to have been influenced by on a direct level. When other people started making such a hoopla about it, I realised that it was just my childhood and I didn't have anything else to compare it to. But even in retrospect, objectively, it was quite astounding how many famous people were around. I feel blessed." The road to becoming a bluesman, let alone a guitar player and songwriter of subtlety, was effectively mapped out for him. With his family background influencing his musical pursuits from the age of seven - when he was handed his first steel string guitar - Bibb says he was consumed by music.
"It was obvious even when I was quite young - and I mean at the age of about four - that nothing really affected me as strongly as music. It wasn't so much that I thought when I grew up I was going to be what I am now, but rather I just became exposed to music at a young age - my father was a professional, after all. Plus, I never devoted myself to anything as seriously or as steadfastly as music. It evolved into a career because I realised I loved it and I could do it, but then I wasn't really prepared to do other things. It's not that I didn't have other interests, but music was the reigning king in my world. I pursued it and it evolved into a lucrative career."
Does he have any idea as to what it was that affected him so intensely for music to be as much a passion as a lifestyle choice? He says it wasn't coercion by his parents (they had other aspirations for him, apparently) but fascination. "I hadn't consciously decided that music would be what I would earn a living from, yet when all other things came and went, I realised that the one constant in my life was this fascination with writing, singing and playing songs.
"Earlier on, as I was developing what has become my own personal way of expressing music, I think I was open to anything and everything that sounded good to my ears and heart. I tried to incorporate elements of music that fascinated - Brazilian, West African, pre-war blues. Or even a more pop type of music, soul music. I think what has changed and evolved is that the focus gets sharper. You start to realise, more objectively, your own strengths and what is unique to you compared with other players on the field. Of necessity - because it's a competitive business, and you realise you need to make an impact, you need to hone those skills that make you stick out. In doing that, it requires you letting go of certain peripheral stuff, really concentrating on what makes you the strongest artist you can be. That comes with time, you can't really predict it; it's a question of trial and error. It comes from feedback, which is very important, that you get from trusted friends and advisors, and so on."
The feedback must be working; ego takes a backseat where Bibb's latest album, Get Onboard, is concerned. It's subtle and soft in all the right places and for all the right reasons. It's a smooth item, too, but not so smooth that it slides out of your hands from CD case to CD player. It's a political record, also, with the blues taken to task and given not so much a right good seeing to, but a diplomatic talking to.
"I was originally going to dedicate the album to Martin Luther King and his wife," says Bibb. "The song Step By Stepis the one that I focused on their life; I knew I wanted to comment on some social issues. The whole feeling behind the American Civil Rights movement seemed to be again relevant and current, and I think the subject was cut off too early, we hadn't finished the business. There are issues bubbling beneath the surface of American culture that needed another look at. I realised the album had to be not a storm-the-barricades type of record, but one which talked about where spirituality impacts on social change, which I felt was natural for me to express on more than one song. The album evolved, though; when you decide what you're interested in, your muse sends you a song that's in keeping with that theme."
Although he no longer lives in America (he now lives in leafy Wiltshire, following a lengthy sojourn in Sweden), Bibb holds Barack Obama in high regard. "He has a charisma that I feel reflects something really sincere and well meaning," Bibb states. "That's what I perceive, anyway. His poise is really something to admire; he has maintained a level of grace throughout it all that has to come from some inner strength, and knowing that I can really see him help this world. There is something about Obama that reminds me of people such as Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King."
And so we take our leave of the former student of psychology and Russian; the intellect is still as sharp, the ambition is still as fervent, but at 56 years of age the hairs are getting grayer. Will Bibb's fascination with the blues continue? Will he turn into the type of blues guitarist guy who will be performing into their 80s? "That's a pretty good prognosis," he affirms. "I think I'll be up and running into that age - I don't see why not. Music is a beautiful restorative occupation to be involved in, and it seems to be working for me, so let's go there."
Get Onboard is available on Telarc Records. Bibb plays Vicar Street, Dublin, May 27; Errigal Inn, Belfast, May 29; and An Grianan Theatre, Donegal, May 30.
