I never looked at music as a serious ven­ture. There was very little encouragement from my family. I didn't have anybody to entertain, so it was hard to get motivated.

The blues is like a planet. It's an enormous topic. You can't ignore the impact that it has had and continues to have on the whole musical culture. It's a tree that everyone is swinging from. Without it, I don't know where I would be. It's indelible and indispensable.

I don't like the stigma that comes with being called a poet . . . So I call what I'm doing an improvisational adventure or an inebriational travelogue.

The trick is to have a career and have a family. It's like having two dogs that hate each other and you have to take them for a walk every night.

I don't go to church on Sunday, don't get on my knees to pray, or memorize the books of the Bible, I got my own special way

The things you absorb you will ultimately secrete. It's all out there and available for you to enjoy...and be nourished by.

Most of the people I admire, they usually smell funny and don't get out much. It's true. Most of them are either dead or not feeling well.