Like Josh White, Jr. -- son of folk singer Josh White -- singer, songwriter, and guitarist Eric Bibb was raised in the folk tradition, the son of folk singer Leon Bibb. Bibb's uncle was the world-famous jazz pianist and composer John Lewis, part of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Bibb was raised in a music-filled household, as family friends in the '50s and '60s included Pete Seeger, Odetta, Bob Dylan, and the late Paul Robeson, who was named Eric's godfather. Bibb got his first steel guitar at age seven, and some advice from Dylan that he never forgot: "keep it simple, forget all that fancy stuff." When he was 13, Bibb entered New York City's High School of Music and Art, where he studied double bass, vocals, classical guitar, and piano. When he was 16, his father asked him to play guitar in the house band for his TV talent show, Someone New.