American blues maestro Eric Bibb just had an epiphany.
“I recently came back from a trip in Mali... where I recorded with a wonderful musician, Habib Koite,” Bibb says.
“It was an epiphany, something of a homecoming.
“I don’t want to over-dramatise but it was a familiar place for me on some level.
“Having grown up in societies where I’m in the minority... to go to a place where I am in the majority... around people who are not second class citizens... was a healing experience.”
Thankfully, Bibb has never suffered from bigotry during his well travelled life; instead, it’s instilled in him some important lessons about humanity.
“It’s been about where your heart is at,” he says
“And I’ve transcended the whole identification of race and nationality.”
A well-stamped passport has also allowed the former New Yorker-cum-Helsinkian to see the global spread of the blues, with all its many glorious sub styles.
“It’s available to anybody who has a heart and soul,” Bibb says, who's been described as an exponent of a kind of New World Blues.
“That’s the beauty of it, it’s become a universal language.”
Even without the gift of hindsight, one could assume Bibb was destined for success.
Given his first guitar at age seven by his father Leon, Bibb was surrounded by musical folk form the beginning: his uncle was world famous jazz pianist and composer John Lewis, while American folk singer Pete Seeger was a family friend.
“Those around me eventually became my musical heroes,” the laid back Bibb says, who is as precise with his words as he is with plucking strings.
“I was aware of my passions for music at a very early age, even before I got my first guitar.
“I was blessed to have all the musical nutrition I could have hoped for.
“I couldn’t have chosen a more charmed childhood. I couldn’t have dreamed up a more encouraging script for a budding musician.”
It’s where he first developed a life long attachment with the guitar.
“I’m never far away from it, spiritually. I hope we get closer and closer,” he says.
The guitar lured the cerebral Bibb away from a career in psychology.
“At that time, something else was calling me,” he says of his university days.
“I moved to Paris with my guitar and began my journey as a working musician. I haven’t looked back.
“(But) everything I’ve been interested in, whether it’s Russian or psychology, Tibetan spiritual traditions or the history of Colonialism, all of those things are part of what informs my artistic expression and my songwriting.”
Bibb, like his playing, is all about feel.
“You have to tap into what moves you, and go with that,” he says.
“It’s the only way an artist evolves, decide what really resonates with you and investigate it, pursue it, and become more familiar with it.
“There are people who are admiring what I’m doing, and using me as some kind of role model.
“It’s a humbling and daunting experience, to realise the beat goes on and you can pass on what you’ve been exposed to.”
Bibb’s passion and skill for music have won many admirers, who he happily acknowledges, have enjoyed his work from a relative distance.
“I think I’ve been fortunate with my level of celebrity is comfortable,” he says.
“And manageable. I can certainly understand those who are more famous and in the spotlight tend to resent their own fame, but not their fortune.
“They’re not able to enjoy peace of mind because they’re always being recognised.
“I’m at a place where my celebrity is flattering but not intrusive to the point where I’m angry with my own fans, it’s a wonderful place to be in.”
On the day we speak to Bibb, he's recovering from his father's 90th birthday celebrations the night before. Did he have any advice on longevity?
“His advice would be surrounding yourself with people who really appreciate who you are,” he says.
“Good food, good wine and definitely good music has a lot to do with longevity.”
Eric Bibb plays the Theatre Royal in Castlemaine on March 16.
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