Eric Bibb

The son of a Broadway singer and nephew of a jazz composer, Eric Bibb grew up in New York's vibrant 1960s folk scene with Paul Robeson as his godfather and Pete Seeger and Odetta as family friends. Taking up guitar as a seven-year-old, he started playing professionally at 16 in his father's house band, before moving to Europe and developing a love of world music. His breakthrough album Good Stuff (1997) defined Bibb as a soulful bluesman and talented acoustic guitarist, while later records Home To Me (1999), Just Like Love (2001) and Natural Light (2003) were the works of a wandering troubadour who'd sucked up influences from gospel, rock, old time Americana and the countries he'd visited. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his track Shakin' A Tailfeather in 2002, and went on to record with Bonnie Raitt, Pop and Mavis Staples, Taj Mahal, Mamadou Diabate and his father Leon Bibb.