Wherein we talk about Mavis, and Mayall, performing for Mandela and de Klerk, meeting Woody and Van Ronk. and the mysterious Holy Ghost. More or less in that order...


When Eric Bibb speaks, his voice carries an easy grace; he seems very hopeful in the midst of uncertain times. Whatever hardships he has endured in his life and career, he doesn’t complain. In fact, he doesn’t boast about having triumphed over adversity, either. You come away from meeting Eric with the sense that he lives right in the middle of the moment. He carries himself like a man with a deep reservoir of conviction that bolsters his life, and his art. 

Eric and I had decided to take a break and reconvene after a couple of hours so Eric could go to see David Bromberg’s violin shop, in Wilmington, Delaware. When he returned we picked up where we had left off.

Baby, lift your window high do you hear

That sound

It’s the troubadours with their

Freedom song

-Van Morrison, 1979

The interview, and the show, was very nearly cancelled. I was sitting by the laptop waiting for the venue to decide, as an ice storm played havoc with the roads in the Washington, DC area. I had first heard Eric Bibb in 2008, during a time of personal tribulation. When I heard Eric, on Youtube, cover the Rev. Gary Davis’ “I Heard the Angels Singing,” it was a lightning rod to my soul and a lifeline to my heart. I hadn’t yet made the connection between Eric and the singer I heard on a television program in 1971, another troubadour who riveted me with his rendition of “500 Miles.”

Tinsley Ellis almost single-handedly ended Richmond’s battle with ice and frigid temps, playing two sets of fired-up southern-fried blues-rock at The Broadberry Friday night. Supported by Erik Kaszynski on drums and Jonathan Holland on Bass, Ellis laid down some of the best blues and boogie this town has seen in a while.

I ran into Tinsley, who was free-roaming the venue, before the start of the show. We spoke briefly about his new album Tough Love, and the ideas behind some of the songs. On the cover Tinsley appears stoic, but the lyrics reveal the man behind the photograph. “It’s about tough love…love is tough, man, tough on us.” Considering some of the lyrics he added, “There’s some other stuff there, too. I tried to add a little social commentary on “Hard Work.”’ The aforementioned song, details the trials and tribulations of unemployment, observing, “It’s hard work, baby, when you ain’t got none.”