I was denied a record contract for 15 years, so I'm not going to be too picky about what I do. I don't have the juice to say no too many times.

Someone told me once that blues is like whiskey. They keep whiskey in the barrel for so many years, and then they talk about how well it's aged. But I don't think that goes for him. I think this young man has just stepped in there sayin', 'I'm gonna prove you all wrong.' I think he's like a watermelon, man. He's ripe.

When you catch me playing something at home, it's somebody else's stuff where I can what we call steal licks from, and that's how I taught myself how to play.

Blues is like American Express. I don't leave home without it.

I can't learn nothing from listening to me. That's something I already know.

I didn't look up and say, "Oh, man, if I learn how to play a guitar I could make not much money, but I'd make a decent living like Eric Clapton or somebody." There wasn't nothing like that out there.

I love what I'm doing. And the world is so mad at everybody. If I do something to make people smile, I'm going to say, I got you. For that moment, if it don't last, I made you forget about the other thing you might have been thinking about.