It seems as if Eric Bibb brings the sunshine with him each time he arrives in Ireland. Last year during the Temple Bar Blues Festival, he played open air in the Meeting House Square, his finger-picking style of acoustic blues endearing him to both the blues aficionado and the curious passers-by.
Almost a year later, with a major label release, Me To You, under his leather belt, he's back playing to a bigger audience of resolutely appreciative blues fans. He might be playing indoors, but the music still shimmers like haze over hot asphalt. His style is still the same - a consciously eclectic combination of gospel-infused folk/ country/blues that alternates between what Bibb himself terms "kitchen table music" and a downright sturdy heads-down-no-nonsense blues jam that would have had the joint well and truly rockin' if it had been electrified.
Yet there was power behind Bibb's acoustic songs, the kind that wields a subtle and unswerving authority. Accompanied by Goran Wennerbrandt on steel and slide guitars and Christer Lysserides on mandola and mandolin, the musical accent was as much on the results as what it took to get there. Bibb journeyed from front porch to backwater, in the process paying tribute to Pete Seeger and Nelson Mandela, as well as - perhaps more obviously - Blind Lemon Jefferson (an instrumental version of Where Shall I Be?).
The original tunes, however, struck home with more force. Saucer`n'Cup was underpinned by a simplistic guitar figure and a few integrity-filled words, while Shingle By Shingle transgressed the well worn identikit description of the blues as being music for sad people. A natural, virtually flawless talent, Bibb played slow and sweet (despite damage to his right-hand playing fingers the previous night, threatening postponement of the concert), his voice easily as soulful as his music.
Perhaps he should take up residency in Ireland instead of Sweden. At least then we'd be assured of great blues music in the country and good weather all year round. Phew - what a scorcher!
