A camera is following blues artist Eric Bibb as he moves among the shops on Paris France’s Rue Jean Jacques Rousseau and that is how the CD Diamond Days begins. Acting upon a last minute suggestion from a cinematographer friend Bibb is filmed with a camcorder while he visits what he refers to as one of his favourite haunts, a luthier shop, RF Charle Instruments de Musique a Cordes. 
“There was something about the spontaneity of the whole thing that I felt enticed with a certain type of energy that you wouldn’t have got if you had planned it as a formal shoot. To me it was really in the spirit of the music that I played in the shop. All kinds of details seemed to come to us as little bonuses. We saw a moment and grabbed it. We didn’t have a big run up time at all, it just happened in a few minutes. I decided I needed to see the shop and a friend decided that he needed to come along with me. It wasn’t more complicated than that,” says Bibb.
For any true lover of the six strings the shop is decorated with scrumptious eye candy with guitars of many vintages and styles. With his every present hat, Bibb takes his seat on a stool, alternating between reflections, finger picking and singing some of his favourite tunes.
“Paris is a city that I have had a connection to for some time. I lived there for a while many years ago and I have an ongoing connection to it. I seem to get there a few times every year so I have figured out what parts of that town resonate with me,” says Bibb.
About the part of Paris where the luthier shop is located he says, “It is in a gallery or arcade that is a throwback to another era. It is located in the part of Paris that really tickles my fancy. It is a very architecturally and inspiring street. The whole vibe of it goes back to another era where the instruments are meaningful to me (originate).”
The Parisian guitar shop is a long way from New York where Bibb grew up as the son of legendary folk artist Leon Bibb, rubbing shoulders with Paul Robeson (his godfather), Pete Seeger, and Bill Lee (Spike Lee’s father) who played in the older Bibb’s band. It was a time when folk revolutionaries such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan were just starting out in New York’s Greenwich Village.
These days Bibb’s music reflects the easygoing, gentle countryside that he has fallen in love with in southwest England where he now resides. “I am not knocked out by huge cities anymore, what appeals to me for inspiration and energy is the countryside. It still has a certain magical quality and England has that in spades,” he says. Bibb also acknowledges that the sense of culture and history provide an inspiring environment for him. “It is something that I find personally comforting in a world that is moving so fast. It is a comfort for me to be connected to an older world. In some places you cannot tell from the landscape what century you are (living) in and that has a certain energy that I thrive on. It seems conducive to calling forth my muse,” he says.
The connection to the past is evident in songs such as “Still Livin’ On” (Diamond Days) a tribute to African American blues and gospel singers who pioneered their genres. He nods to Mississippian John Hurt, Elizabeth Cotten, Reverend Gary Davis, Delta blues king Son House, Sam and Ann Charters and Roebuck Staples who eventually founded The Staple Singers. If you do not recognize these names then you should follow Bibb’s advice contained in his lyrics, “Read ‘em in a book. Look ‘em up on the net/Blues people we can’t forget/.”
The words ‘citizen of the world’ have too often become a glib expression however the phrase accurately describes Bibb who began his cultural odyssey by celebrating his thirteenth birthday in Kiev in the former Soviet Union. His father Leon Bibb was invited by the Soviet government to perform a thirty-concert tour of the nation that followed on the heels of a series of European gigs.
