ERIC BIBB
''JERICHO ROAD''
OCTOBER 14 2013
62:10
1 - Drinkin’ Gourd/3:01
2 - Freedom Train/3:23
3 - Let The Mothers Step Up/3:30
4 - Have A Heart/4:29
5 - The Right Thing/4:10
6 - Death Row Blues/3:41
7 - Can’t Please Everybody/4:34
8 - The Lord’s Work/3:29
9 - With My Maker I Am One/4:36
10 - They Know/4:05
11 - She Got Mine/2:31
12 - Good Like You/4:21
13 - One Day At A Time/2:52
14 - Now/4:45
15 - Nanibali/4:22
16 - Currency Of Love (Bonus Track)/3:42
ABOUT
EDMONTON, AB – Stony Plain Records announces a November 5 release date for Jericho Road, the new CD from multi-award winning singer/songwriter Eric Bibb. The latest album from Bibb is a masterful collection of 13 songs and two bonus tracks that solidifies his journey as a true story-teller, where blues, folk and world music intersect at a musical crossroads.
“The new record is an ambitious studio project that’s been a few years in the making,” says Eric Bibb about Jericho Road. “It was produced by Glen Scott, a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer, arranger and producer, who I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with on several earlier albums. This record reflects many of the musical influences that have informed my writing throughout my career. World music sounds, blues, folk and soul all find their way into these songs.
“The title refers to the road between Jerusalem and Jericho where the Good Samaritan, a traveler of a despised race, stopped to help a stranger in need after better-off religious leaders had passed by and done nothing. On April 3, 1968, the night before his death, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King urged us to follow the example of the Good Samaritan, saying: ‘Ultimately, you cannot save yourself without saving others.’ If this record has a theme, that’s it in a nutshell: have a heart.”
The all original tunes that comprise Jericho Road feature a number of songs co-written by Eric Bibb and Glen Scott, who also contributed musical backing on several instruments throughout the sessions. The two bonus tracks are “Now,” co-written by Bibb and Ernie McNally, and “Nanibali,” written and performed on vocal and kora by Solo Cissokho.
“My dear friend Ernie McNally gifted the world with these beautiful lyrics that inspired this call for a new world,” writes Bibb in the liner notes about “Now.” “Stylistically, this song stuck out from the others on the album, but the divine vocals from the wonderful Linda Tillery and Tammi Brown, Glen’s rhapsodic, churchy piano and the soulful trumpet sounds from Goran Kajfes compelled me to include it as a bonus track.
“Composed, sung and played by Solo Cissokho, ‘Nanibali’ is, for me, the perfect ending of the Jericho Road journey,” Bibb adds. “This thrilling performance by a modern West African griot celebrates unity, understanding and love between all members of the global community.”
Jericho Road is Eric Bibb’s fourth album for Stony Plain and follows Deeper in the Well, which was nominated for two Blues Music Awards (winning him the 2013 honor for “Acoustic Artist”); and Brothers in Bamako, the critically-acclaimed pairing of Bibb and West African singer/guitarist Habib Koité (pronounced “Ha-beeb Kwa-tay”). His first label release came in 2006, when Eric and his legendary father, Leon Bibb, collaborated on the album, Praising Peace: A Tribute to Paul Robeson.
“Travelling over land and sea, playing and singing to audiences large and small, has blessed me with countless opportunities to observe and befriend people from all over the world,” observes Bibb in the new album’s liner notes. “Through the years I’ve discovered that while the human tribe is wonderfully diverse, we are not all that different from one another.
“Given all this exposure to so many cultures, I’m amazed, over and over again, at the prejudiced attitudes and the tendency to judge that linger in my own thinking. Making assumptions about people based on appearance is what we’ve all been conditioned to do, and falling into that trap is surely a big part of what keeps us in conflict with each other. Every time I catch myself going there I shake my head and hope that I’ve learned my lesson. Sometimes, the experience will lead to a new song.
“Musically, the songs that we’ve written for this record reflect many of the influences that have inspired us throughout our careers,” he continues. “World music sounds, blues, folk, soul and jazz flavors all find their way into the grooves.”
For more information, visit www.stonyplainrecords.com
BIOGRAPHY
by Richard Skelly
Like Josh White, Jr. -- son of folk singer Josh White -- singer, songwriter, and guitarist Eric Bibb was raised in the folk tradition, the son of folk singer Leon Bibb. Bibb's uncle was the world-famous jazz pianist and composer John Lewis, part of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Bibb was raised in a music-filled household, as family friends in the '50s and '60s included Pete Seeger, Odetta, Bob Dylan, and the late Paul Robeson, who was named Eric's godfather. Bibb got his first steel guitar at age seven, and some advice from Dylan that he never forgot: "keep it simple, forget all that fancy stuff." When he was 13, Bibb entered New York City's High School of Music and Art, where he studied double bass, vocals, classical guitar, and piano. When he was 16, his father asked him to play guitar in the house band for his TV talent show, Someone New.
In 1970, Bibb left New York City for Paris, where he met with guitarist Mickey Baker. There, he began to focus in on blues guitar, and, after moving to Stockholm, he became enamored with pre-war blues. He continued to write his own songs and perform during this time, and returned to New York in 1980 to pursue a career as a folk and blues singer. He moved back to Sweden five years later and continued performing, but also taught music in school. His debut, Spirit and the Blues showcased the sounds of bouzouki, mandolin, accordion, and a gospel group, inspired by other recordings that married bluesmen like Leadbelly with gospel groups like the Golden Gate Quartet. He performed at the London Blues Festival in 1996, where he shared a set with Corey Harris and Keb' Mo', and he quickly followed up with 1997's Good Stuff. His third album, Me to You, featured performances and collaborations with some of his musical heroes, including Pops & Mavis Staples and Taj Mahal. He followed up the success of the album with tours of the U.K., U.S., Canada, France, Germany, and Sweden. He recorded and released Home to Me in 1999, Roadworks in 2000, Painting Signs and Just Like Love in 2001, and A Family Affair in 2001, which featured duets and solo tunes by Bibb and his father. Bibb joined Robert Cray on two U.S. tours in 2001 and 2002, and opened for Ray Charles in the summer of 2002. Bibb was nominated for a Grammy for "Shakin' a Tailfeather," and he has been nominated for many W.C. Handy Awards in a variety of categories.
Ever the prolific songwriter, forever brimming with new musical ideas and a freshness of appreciation with no dimming in his enthusiasm for performing, Bibb has kept up a hectic schedule of performing and recording since Home to Me and A Family Affair were released in 2001. He recorded Natural Light for Earthbeat in 2003, Roadworks and Sisters and Brothers in 2004, and Friends in 2004. His more recent recordings include 2005's A Ship Called Love, Diamond Days, and Twelve Gates to the City in 2006, and a collaboration with his father, Praising Peace: A Tribute to Paul Robeson. Not all of Bibb's releases are available in the U.S., but most can be found via the Internet. He released a live album in 2007, An Evening with Eric Bibb for the Telarc Blues label. Bibb's latest album, 2008's Get on Board on Telarc Blues features performances by Bonnie Raitt and Ruthie Foster. Bibb describes the sounds and songs on the album best when he says, it's "a further exploration into the place where blues meets gospel and soul." Troubadour Live, recorded at a December 9, 2010 concert in Stockholm, Sweden and featuring guest guitarist Staffan Astner, was released in 2011.
''JERICHO ROAD''
OCTOBER 14 2013
62:10
1 - Drinkin’ Gourd/3:01
2 - Freedom Train/3:23
3 - Let The Mothers Step Up/3:30
4 - Have A Heart/4:29
5 - The Right Thing/4:10
6 - Death Row Blues/3:41
7 - Can’t Please Everybody/4:34
8 - The Lord’s Work/3:29
9 - With My Maker I Am One/4:36
10 - They Know/4:05
11 - She Got Mine/2:31
12 - Good Like You/4:21
13 - One Day At A Time/2:52
14 - Now/4:45
15 - Nanibali/4:22
16 - Currency Of Love (Bonus Track)/3:42
ABOUT
EDMONTON, AB – Stony Plain Records announces a November 5 release date for Jericho Road, the new CD from multi-award winning singer/songwriter Eric Bibb. The latest album from Bibb is a masterful collection of 13 songs and two bonus tracks that solidifies his journey as a true story-teller, where blues, folk and world music intersect at a musical crossroads.
“The new record is an ambitious studio project that’s been a few years in the making,” says Eric Bibb about Jericho Road. “It was produced by Glen Scott, a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, recording engineer, arranger and producer, who I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with on several earlier albums. This record reflects many of the musical influences that have informed my writing throughout my career. World music sounds, blues, folk and soul all find their way into these songs.
“The title refers to the road between Jerusalem and Jericho where the Good Samaritan, a traveler of a despised race, stopped to help a stranger in need after better-off religious leaders had passed by and done nothing. On April 3, 1968, the night before his death, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King urged us to follow the example of the Good Samaritan, saying: ‘Ultimately, you cannot save yourself without saving others.’ If this record has a theme, that’s it in a nutshell: have a heart.”
The all original tunes that comprise Jericho Road feature a number of songs co-written by Eric Bibb and Glen Scott, who also contributed musical backing on several instruments throughout the sessions. The two bonus tracks are “Now,” co-written by Bibb and Ernie McNally, and “Nanibali,” written and performed on vocal and kora by Solo Cissokho.
“My dear friend Ernie McNally gifted the world with these beautiful lyrics that inspired this call for a new world,” writes Bibb in the liner notes about “Now.” “Stylistically, this song stuck out from the others on the album, but the divine vocals from the wonderful Linda Tillery and Tammi Brown, Glen’s rhapsodic, churchy piano and the soulful trumpet sounds from Goran Kajfes compelled me to include it as a bonus track.
“Composed, sung and played by Solo Cissokho, ‘Nanibali’ is, for me, the perfect ending of the Jericho Road journey,” Bibb adds. “This thrilling performance by a modern West African griot celebrates unity, understanding and love between all members of the global community.”
Jericho Road is Eric Bibb’s fourth album for Stony Plain and follows Deeper in the Well, which was nominated for two Blues Music Awards (winning him the 2013 honor for “Acoustic Artist”); and Brothers in Bamako, the critically-acclaimed pairing of Bibb and West African singer/guitarist Habib Koité (pronounced “Ha-beeb Kwa-tay”). His first label release came in 2006, when Eric and his legendary father, Leon Bibb, collaborated on the album, Praising Peace: A Tribute to Paul Robeson.
“Travelling over land and sea, playing and singing to audiences large and small, has blessed me with countless opportunities to observe and befriend people from all over the world,” observes Bibb in the new album’s liner notes. “Through the years I’ve discovered that while the human tribe is wonderfully diverse, we are not all that different from one another.
“Given all this exposure to so many cultures, I’m amazed, over and over again, at the prejudiced attitudes and the tendency to judge that linger in my own thinking. Making assumptions about people based on appearance is what we’ve all been conditioned to do, and falling into that trap is surely a big part of what keeps us in conflict with each other. Every time I catch myself going there I shake my head and hope that I’ve learned my lesson. Sometimes, the experience will lead to a new song.
“Musically, the songs that we’ve written for this record reflect many of the influences that have inspired us throughout our careers,” he continues. “World music sounds, blues, folk, soul and jazz flavors all find their way into the grooves.”
For more information, visit www.stonyplainrecords.com
BIOGRAPHY
by Richard Skelly
Like Josh White, Jr. -- son of folk singer Josh White -- singer, songwriter, and guitarist Eric Bibb was raised in the folk tradition, the son of folk singer Leon Bibb. Bibb's uncle was the world-famous jazz pianist and composer John Lewis, part of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Bibb was raised in a music-filled household, as family friends in the '50s and '60s included Pete Seeger, Odetta, Bob Dylan, and the late Paul Robeson, who was named Eric's godfather. Bibb got his first steel guitar at age seven, and some advice from Dylan that he never forgot: "keep it simple, forget all that fancy stuff." When he was 13, Bibb entered New York City's High School of Music and Art, where he studied double bass, vocals, classical guitar, and piano. When he was 16, his father asked him to play guitar in the house band for his TV talent show, Someone New.
In 1970, Bibb left New York City for Paris, where he met with guitarist Mickey Baker. There, he began to focus in on blues guitar, and, after moving to Stockholm, he became enamored with pre-war blues. He continued to write his own songs and perform during this time, and returned to New York in 1980 to pursue a career as a folk and blues singer. He moved back to Sweden five years later and continued performing, but also taught music in school. His debut, Spirit and the Blues showcased the sounds of bouzouki, mandolin, accordion, and a gospel group, inspired by other recordings that married bluesmen like Leadbelly with gospel groups like the Golden Gate Quartet. He performed at the London Blues Festival in 1996, where he shared a set with Corey Harris and Keb' Mo', and he quickly followed up with 1997's Good Stuff. His third album, Me to You, featured performances and collaborations with some of his musical heroes, including Pops & Mavis Staples and Taj Mahal. He followed up the success of the album with tours of the U.K., U.S., Canada, France, Germany, and Sweden. He recorded and released Home to Me in 1999, Roadworks in 2000, Painting Signs and Just Like Love in 2001, and A Family Affair in 2001, which featured duets and solo tunes by Bibb and his father. Bibb joined Robert Cray on two U.S. tours in 2001 and 2002, and opened for Ray Charles in the summer of 2002. Bibb was nominated for a Grammy for "Shakin' a Tailfeather," and he has been nominated for many W.C. Handy Awards in a variety of categories.
Ever the prolific songwriter, forever brimming with new musical ideas and a freshness of appreciation with no dimming in his enthusiasm for performing, Bibb has kept up a hectic schedule of performing and recording since Home to Me and A Family Affair were released in 2001. He recorded Natural Light for Earthbeat in 2003, Roadworks and Sisters and Brothers in 2004, and Friends in 2004. His more recent recordings include 2005's A Ship Called Love, Diamond Days, and Twelve Gates to the City in 2006, and a collaboration with his father, Praising Peace: A Tribute to Paul Robeson. Not all of Bibb's releases are available in the U.S., but most can be found via the Internet. He released a live album in 2007, An Evening with Eric Bibb for the Telarc Blues label. Bibb's latest album, 2008's Get on Board on Telarc Blues features performances by Bonnie Raitt and Ruthie Foster. Bibb describes the sounds and songs on the album best when he says, it's "a further exploration into the place where blues meets gospel and soul." Troubadour Live, recorded at a December 9, 2010 concert in Stockholm, Sweden and featuring guest guitarist Staffan Astner, was released in 2011.
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