My ambition when I started out was to play two or three gigs a week. And that's what I'm doing.

There's no difference between lyrics and poetry. Words are words. The only difference is the people who are in academic positions and call themselves poets and have an academic stance. They've got something to lose if they say it's all poetry; if there's not music to it, and you have to wear a certain kind of checkered shirt or something like that. It's all the same. Lyrics are lyrics, poetry is poetry, lyrics are poetry, and poetry is lyrics. They are interchangeable to me.

When I started studying tenor saxophone as a kid in Belfast, I did so with a guy named George Cassidy, who was also a big inspiration.

I think we're going a bit too fast at the minute. The rate we're going is like we're going over the edge of the hill.

I was just getting tired of the image bullshit...that man of mystery trip and what have you. What's that all about?

Once in a blue moon someone like you comes along.

I went back to Belfast and started a club, the Maritime. No one had thought about doing a blues club, so I was the first.