My uncle was 16, in junior high, and he heard me singing and snatched me off the stage. I thought he was happy and was going to pat me on the head and say I was good. But he took me home and told my grandmother this youngin' was at school singing the blues.

I started writing letters home to my mother, saying that I wanted to come home, grandma won't let me sing.

My uncle was 16, in junior high, and he heard me singing and snatched me off the stage. I thought he was happy and was going to pat me on the head and say I was good. But he took me home and told my grandmother this youngin' was at school singing the blues.

We enjoyed the fact that we were called to the folk festivals and we got to know Joan Baez, Dylan. We were singing strictly gospel, but then after we started hearing songs that they would sing, we saw that those songs were very fitting for us because they were singing the truth, and truth is gospel.

If I wasn't my age, I would turn a flip. I would do some cartwheels. That's how I feel.

We stay strong. We stay positive, keep our heads up, love one another, spread love. The Devil can't win when you have God on your side.

One day, when I was about eight years old, some kids pushed me on stage at school during a talent show because they knew I could sing.