January 17, 2008

Blues artists to return for encore performance

The concert is presented by Purdue Convocations as part of its Frets on Fire series.

"Both of these blues artists have been to Purdue before, and they were so well-received we invited them back," said Todd Wetzel, director of Purdue Convocations. "In 2005, Eric Bibb wowed the crowd at the Rockin' Blues Review with his gospel-infused acoustic folk blues. Equally embraced by audiences was Chicago-style blues rocker Ronnie Baker Brooks, who opened for B.B. King at Purdue in 2006."

Both artists will be available for autographs after the performance in the lobby outside Loeb Playhouse.

The son of 1960s folk singer Leon Bibb, Eric Bibb was raised on American roots music, rubbing elbows with performers like Odetta, Richie Havens, Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan, who influenced his rich, sensitive vocals and extraordinary finger picking, Wetzel said.

Since his breakout performance at the 1996 London Blues Festival, Bibb has toured the world performing at major festivals like the Glastonbury Cambridge Folk Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival and the Chicago World Music Festival. He joined Robert Cray on U.S. tours in 2001 and 2002 and opened shows for Ray Charles in 2002. Bibb has been nominated for nine W.C. Handy Blues Music Awards and is a winner of the Best Newcomer title in the British Blues Awards.

As the son of Chicago blues mainstay Lonnie Brooks, Ronnie Baker Brooks came of age watching guitar players and singers like Buddy Guy and B.B. King express their feelings through their music. Brooks now brings the blues to a new generation - energizing roots sounds with soul, hip-hop and funk, and transforming them into something that spans the ages, Wetzel said.

After playing with his father for more than a decade and shortly after releasing his own debut album, "Golddigger," in 1998 - which earned him a W.C. Handy nomination for Best New Blues Artist - Brooks left the band to strike out on his own. Like his father before him, Brooks became a Chicago blues mainstay, playing regularly in Chicago-area clubs.

Wetzel said the release of his second album, 2001's "Take Me Witcha," created a major stir among the music community as Brooks came to be known as a new kind of blues songsmith. His latest album, "The Torch," was released with the help of Minneapolis producer Jellybean Johnson, who has worked with Prince and Janet Jackson.

Tickets are available at the Elliott Hall and Stewart Center box offices at (765) 494-3933 or (800) 914-SHOW. Tickets also are available through Ticketmaster outlets.

Writer: Christy Jones, (765) 494-1089, christyjones@purdue.edu

Source: Kerry Schutt Nason, Purdue Convocations director of marketing, (765) 494-5045, knason@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Publication-quality photos of Eric Bibb and Ronnie Baker Brooks are available at https://www.purdue.edu/convos/bibbandbrooksimages.shtml

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