artist info

When director Martin Scorsese decided to pay homage to the Delta blues in "Long Way Home," he engaged musician and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Corey Harris to host this story that took him through Mississippi and on to West Africa, exploring the roots of the music. Now this rich tapestry of different cultures comes to the stage in an evening of music and conversation. Corey Harris is joined by award-winning singer and songwriter Eric Bibb to present "True Blues."

A career spanning five decades, 36 albums, countless radio & television shows and non-stop touring has made Eric Bibb one of the leading bluesmen of his generation. A Progressive preservationist, a fiery singer with true soul, gospel and folk roots, enjoyable and accessible, his blues is honest and powerful. One critic wrote: “He has all the ingredients for stardom – handsome good looks, a voice as strong and soulful as they come, the guitar chops to hold his own against the best and he writes compelling, sensitive songs. His blues are clean, beautifully sung, soulful and upbeat”. The weekly syndicated American program “House of Blues Radio Hour” host Elwood Blues (a.k.a. Dan Aykroyd) once declared to Eric: “You are what the blues in the new century should be about.”

Corey Harris is a guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and bandleader who has successfully carved out his own niche in blues. A powerful singer and accomplished guitarist, he has appeared at venues throughout the North America, Europe, Brazil, The Caribbean, West Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. He began his career as a New Orleans street singer, travelling throughout the southern U.S. In his early twenties he lived in Cameroon, West Africa for a year, which had a profound effect on his later work. He has recorded many old songs of the blues tradition while also creating an original vision of the blues by adding influences from reggae, soul, rock and West African music.