Performer Notes

Personnel: Eric Bibb (vocals, guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string guitar, baritone guitar, hand claps); Ruthie Foster (vocals); Tommy Sims (guitar, acoustic bass, electric bass, hand claps, background vocals); Chuck Anthony (electric guitar); Bonnie Raitt (slide guitar); Darick Campbell, Clive Barnes, Johan Lindstrm (lap steel guitar); Orville Johnson (mandolin); Grant Dermody (harmonica); Glen Scott (melodica, organ, Wurlitzer organ, mini-Moog synthesizer, acoustic bass, drums, tambourine, hand claps, percussion, wind chime, background vocals); Andreas Andersson (clarinet, saxophone); Staffan Findin (trombone, bass trombone); Javier Sols (drums, tambourine); Nikki Leonti (hand claps, background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Glen Scott.
Recording information: Stefan Olsson's String Factory; Temproductions, Mill Valley, CA; The Gastation; The Platinum Lab, Nashville, TN.
Author: Eric Bibb.
Photographers: Patricia de Gorostarzu; Brian Jensen.
Arranger: Eric Bibb.
Eric Bibb resides right outside of the crossroads where blues, folk, and gospel meet. His songs are elevating but not preachy, gritty but not nasty. It's a congenial music, as if to say that it may be the blues but it doesn't have to be a bummer. And it's a moralistic music, but its meaningful message is never delivered in a saccharine manner. Slide guitars and harmonicas wail, choirs holler, horns blare, tambourines get shaken, steel guitars twang, strings soothe, Wurlitzers whirl, and Bibb, acoustic guitar in hand, keeps 'em all honest with his earthy, Everyman songs. Like Taj Mahal, who has guested on Bibb's recordings, Bibb is in love with the roots of Americana, but, again like Taj, there's nothing self-conscious or stylized about his approach. On the soul ballad "If Our Hearts Ain't in It," which features Bonnie Raitt on slide guitar, he castigates phony religiosity, but even then it's not a condemnation: "We can fall down on our knees, shout 'Hallelujah, my soul is saved!'/But if our hearts ain't in it, ain't nothin' much is gonna change." "Stayed on Freedom," just Bibb on vocal and acoustic with Grant Dermody blowing harp, is a traditional spiritual turned civil rights anthem that delivers the simplest truth in a simple package, and "Pockets" is a country blues love tune set to an easygoing shuffle. A particular highlight is the deep blues "Conversation," a duet with the vocalist Ruthie Foster. A slow builder, it begins sparsely but subtly intensifies as Dermody's harmonica and a trio of trombone, saxophone, and trumpet assert themselves into the tune. Best of all, perhaps, is the opener, "Spirit I Am," a rousing, thumping, oversized shout-out to all that is good and right in a world that, more and more, has us all wondering what's real and what isn't and where we all fit in. ~ Jeff Tamarkin

Professional Reviews

Dirty Linen (p.44) - "With his baritone vocals and acoustic, baritone, 12-string, and tremolo guitars backed by electric guitars, keyboards, harmonica, horn sections, and backup singers, Bibb reaches into the depths of his soul."

Living Blues (p.50) - "[A] radio-friendly pop music CD with lovely melodies and song lyrics that reveal a more progressive and considerate world view. GET ONBOARD shows Bibb to be one of the most inspirational musicians of our times."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.115) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "GET ONBOARD comes from an aesthete's ear tuned to sparkling cotton fields guitar, a gentle, witty voice and a good heart -- sweet pick-me-ups abound..."

Album: Get Onboard
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Spirit I Am	More Info...
2)	The Promised Land	More Info...
3)	New Beale Street Blues	More Info...
4)	Get Onboard	More Info...
5)	If Our Hearts Ain't In It	More Info...
6)	Pockets	More Info...
7)	River Blues	More Info...
8)	Deep In My Soul	More Info...
9)	Conversation	More Info...
10)	God's Kingdom	More Info...
11)	Step By Step	More Info...
12)	Stayed On Freedom	More Info...

Album: Get Onboard
#	Song Title		Time
1)	Spirit I Am	More Info...
2)	The Promised Land	More Info...
3)	New Beale Street Blues	More Info...
4)	Get Onboard	More Info...
5)	If Our Hearts Ain't In It	More Info...
6)	Pockets	More Info...
7)	River Blues	More Info...
8)	Deep In My Soul	More Info...
9)	Conversation	More Info...
10)	God's Kingdom	More Info...
11)	Step By Step	More Info...
12)	Stayed On Freedom	More Info...