Win Eric Bibb tickets for his Archies Creek show

SOUTH Gippsland is getting two helpings of master US bluesman Eric Bibb next month, at Meeniyan Hall for the Lyrebird Arts Council on Saturday, March 4 and at the Bass Coast music mecca, Archies Creek Hotel, on Sunday afternoon, March 5.

Both shows were sold out long ago, but the Sentinel-Times has two VIP Reserved Seats for Archies Creek (worth $160) to giveaway to some lucky reader.

Simply send an email to http://ads@sgst.com.au nominating ‘My best concert ever’ and we’ll pick out a winner from the entries.

The selected entry will be contacted and asked if they able to attend and the winner’s name will be published in the Tuesday, February 28 print edition of the South Gippsland Sentinel-Times.

The two local Eric Bibb dates are sandwiched in between performances at Launceston, Newcastle, Adelaide, Perth, Townsville, Byron Bay and Sydney; and the Port Fairy Folk Festival, all part of his worldwide Eric Bibb Riddin’ Tour to all points including Australia, UK and Ireland.

But speaking to the Sentinel-Times yesterday, Mr Bibb said he is really looking forward to a return visit to the Gippsland area.

“Hi folks, can’t wait to greet old friends and meet new ones when I come to Archies Creek and the memorable Meeniyan Hall,” he said after his performance date in Canberra.

“The tour so far has been a dream! Looking forward to the shows and some chill out time in fabled Gippsland. See you there! Eric.”

So, while he’s thoroughly accessible it’s easy to point to Eric’s professional accomplishments after a five-decade career recording with folk and blues royalty. Two Grammy nominations and multiple Blues Foundation awards have arrived along the way. And he enjoys a following that not only crosses borders, it crosses continents.

To meet Eric is to be struck by both his humility and his warmth.

There is no pretence in him. He is remarkably centered, his convictions based in the values of the civil rights movement of the sixties. Eric’s music works in service of that dream, holding out a hope for a new world. He challenges us to do better, to reach higher, and strive harder. Like Mavis and Pops Staples, he wants to take us there.

Eric carries this mantle honestly.

His father, the late Leon Bibb, was an activist, actor, and folk singer who marched at Selma with Dr Martin Luther King. Eric’s youth was spent immersed in the Village folk scene.

Names like Dylan, Baez, and Seeger were visitors to his home. He was deeply influenced by Odetta, Richie Havens, and Taj Mahal. And he has synthesized all of that into his very own style. (Details by Joe McSpaddenwn).

So, if you want to be at Archies Creek Hotel, on Sunday afternoon, March 6 for one of Eric Bibb’s local concerts, drop us a line to http://ads@sgst.com.au