Eric Bibb is considered the best there is in acoustic blues.

He'll be doing his thing at the Harrison Festival on July 15 in Harrison Memorial Hall.

Born into a musical family as the son of folk legend Leon Bibb, the future troubadour was given his first steel-string guitar at seven.

By the time he was a teenager he was consumed by music.

At 19 he left for Paris. When he later moved to Sweden, Bibb found a creative environment which took him back to Greenwich Village during the heyday of the folk revival.

Settling in Stockholm, Bibb immersed himself in pre-war blues and continued to write and perform.

"I began meeting and playing with local musicians as well as newcomers from all over the world," he says on his website. "There was a budding world music scene going on before it became a market concept."

And his music these days, like his personality, is intimate, assured and passionate.

He describes his latest recording: "My new album, Get Onboard is, without a doubt one of the most exciting projects of my career. It’s a further exploration into the place where blues meets gospel and soul."

Tickets by phone 604 796-3664 or harrisonfestival.com.

Here's the recent Q&A he did with The Progress in anticipation of the Harrison show, July 15, at 8:30 p.m.:

What are you listening to these days on your stereo?

Prince's Lotus Flower, Guy Davis' A Sweetheart Like You, The Best of Bobby Womack, The Truth According to Ruthie Foster, and Melissa Morgan's latest.

Who was a big influence on you musically when you were young?

Lead Belly, Odetta, Ritchie Havens, Tim Hardin, and The Staple Singers to name a few.

Are you mostly home or touring these days?

Touring.

So where does country blues meet gospel for you?

They are not really separate, they just focus on different aspects of the human experience. Musically, they may not have much in common, but are sometimes the same.

How do you stay healthy on tour? Is it possible?

It is possible, Yoga helps enormously.

What was the weirdest gig ever?

I’ve blanked it out.

Tim Hortons coffee or Starbucks? Have a preference?

Starbucks.

How about Lennon, or McCartney?

McCartney.

What do you think drew you originally to the genre, and keeps you breaking new ground musically with the blues?

The mysterious power of it is hard to describe in words, the truth of the real folk blues.

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