Eric Bibb: Deeper in the Well

Bluesman Eric Bibb heads to Louisiana to explore the intersection between the African, French, Spanish, Caribbean, and Native American influences in that region’s music. Recorded at Dirk Powell’s Cypress House Studio in Pont Breaux, Louisiana, the often laid-back acoustic songs on Deeper in the Well have a front-porch pickin’ feel. It features an all-star lineup that includes the multi- instrumentalist Powell, dobro great Jerry Douglas, star Cajun fiddler Cedric Watson, and Christine Balfa (daughter of Cajun legend Dewey Balfa), among others. The talented Bibb—who grew up in New York City in a well-placed musical family (his godfather was Paul Robeson)—is right at home in this setting. Legend has it that Bob Dylan once advised the then-11- year-old Bibb to keep his guitar playing “simple” and “forget all that fancy stuff,” and indeed Bibb has a knack for keeping it simple, though deceptively so. His deft command of the folk idiom, especially Delta-flavored acoustic blues, is on a par with an elite few. The songs are mostly originals, though Bibb also shows an ability to imprint the gospel-inflected traditional blues “Sinner Man” with his own signature soulful style. He offers a nod to Dylan on the closing track, a cover of “The Times They Are A’Changin’.”