Eric Bibb is back in style. Master of acoustic guitar, master story teller, his new album Migration Blues stands firmly rooted in Americana history and handles contemporary migration with equal conviction. With his committed address to current day migration he shows that he is more than a follower of those musicians who addressed injustices in the past, he continues in their footsteps and is as worthy in this as any of them. It is only fitting that he tributes Woody Guthrie with ‘This land is your land’.
The album is Eric Bibb at his best: understated yet excellent acoustic guitar underlying masterful storytelling and commanding performance. The opening song of the album, ‘Refugee moans’, held a rough blues joint audience completely spellbound when Eric did an a cappella version during a recent concert. 
The musical grace of Eric Bibb lifts this album beyond pure blues. The listener can hear and feel the signs of hope along the way. This album deserves as wide an audience as possible for both the music and the message.
In the liner notes to the album Eric Bibb tells some more about his songs:
‘Refugee Moan’ - Imagine how it feels to be forced to flee from your ancestral home with no safe haven in sight. As Warsan Shire wrote in her famous poem: “... no one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark ...no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land...”
‘Delta Getaway’ -”The words to this story-song were inspired by a conversation I had many years ago with a blues elder who remembered his perilous journey, as a young man, from Mississippi to Chicago.
‘Diego’s Blues ‘ – The Great Migration cause a labor shortage in the southern cotton fields and Mexican immigrants came in to replace the African Americans who were leaving, in droves, for the northern cities.
‘Praying for shore’ – Thousands of refugees have drowned in recent years attempting to reach Europe in vessels that were not seaworthy. This song is remembering them.
‘Brotherly love’ - These days it feels like the whole of humanity is sailing through a mighty storm. As dire as our situation is, I still believe that the compass of brotherly love can guide us safely to peaceful shores.