VOA常速英语:Eric Bibb Digs Deep into Delta Blues on 'Booker's Guitar'

Singer-songwriter Eric Bibb delves deep into the Delta blues on his new release, Booker's Guitar.  The album was inspired by a vintage guitar once owned by Mississippi bluesman Booker White.

Eric Bibb claims he's a lifetime fan of the late Booker White, a Delta blues singer who gained fame with a series of recordings in the 1930s.  White was also known for being B.B. King's older cousin. 

While on tour in London a few years ago, Bibb got a first-hand look at White's 1934 Resophonic National steel-body guitar.  It's now owned by one of Bibb's closest fans, and it prompted him to write and record the title song, using the prized guitar, nicknamed "The Holy Grail."

Eric Bibb keeps the acoustic blues tradition alive on Booker's Guitar. 

Bibb describes playing the guitar as "a rite of passage." 

He says, "Once I had written that song, I really wanted to make a complete statement and document my connection to the Delta blues tradition."  He recorded 14 other tracks using his own guitars.

In addition to his string of solo albums, Bibb has appeared on a variety of compilations, including Pre-War Blues Classics, Blue Haze - The Songs of Jimi Hendrix, folk and blues recordings for children, and the Putumayo Records' collections Mali To Memphis, American Blues, and Blues Around The World.