I was reared in the church from the age of three. I've played piano since I was three. I performed at revivals and for my people around North Carolina for several years. People around town collected money to send me to school.

I play piano, by ear. Yes, I write songs... and good ones.

It's a new dawn, it's a new day...and I'm feeling good.

I feel what they feel. And people who listen to me know that, and it makes them feel like they're not alone.

Everything that happened to me as a child involved music. It was part of everyday life, as automatic as breathing.

To be young, gifted and black!

Talent is a burden not a joy. I am not of this planet. I do not come from you. I am not like you.