Bibi Farber

New York City marks the birthplace of Bibi Farber, whose father Barry Farber built a career as a conservative radio pundit and commentator while her sister Celia Farber pursued rock journalism. During their teenage years the two sisters lived in Orbero, Sweden, under their mother’s care. There Farber developed a deep attachment to punk and new wave, launching her musical path by handling bass duties in a local new wave group.

In the early 1980s she moved back to New York and quickly integrated into the city’s expanding underground circuit. Although an ocean and a continent separated her from the original scene, Farber had already become an ardent admirer of Television in the 1970s, and the stylistic fingerprints of Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine surfaced in her own compositions. Her highest regard, however, went to Pete Townshend, while she also cultivated a strong appreciation for Tom Petty’s songwriting. Additional influences arrived from sources as varied as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Psychedelic Furs, Dusty Springfield, Peter Gabriel, and Howlin’ Wolf.

Rhythm guitar became her instrument in groups such as the Children of the Night and the Ventilators. She later assembled two projects of her own: the Indigos, which featured her sister Celia and performed throughout New York before touring Sweden, and Bibi & the Black Sheep. Mid-decade she stepped forward as a solo acoustic artist and formed a duo with Joe McGinty of the Psychedelic Furs. She also created GLOW, a melodic pop/rock ensemble, and shared stages with Richard Lloyd, Mark White of the Spin Doctors, Dennis Diken of the Smithereens, and Peter Stuart, previously of the Tryfles, the Headless Horsemen, and the Standells.

As a solo performer Farber progressed from busking in New York’s streets and subways to appearances at CBGB, the Bottom Line, O’Flaherty’s, the Bitter End, and the Mercury Lounge, as well as venues stretching from Boston to Atlanta, the city she called home for a period. Her first album, the eleven-track Firepop, arrived in 1999 and included one song in Swedish; Richard Lloyd and Peter Stuart appeared among the supporting musicians. Second Kiss followed in 2004 and received favorable notices. In 2008 Jim Metzner commissioned her to compose the theme and incidental music for the National Public Radio podcast series Kid’s Science Challenge, yielding the track “I Wanna Know.”