The song of the blues, the song of the music, was something a lot of people missed out on. They thought they had to swagger a certain way or bark at the mic, and you don't have to do that.

What you have to understand is that blues... it's in a line from the oldest forms of African music. If you're playing it like it's an echo of the past, it would be a lot less exciting, but this music lives today.

I wanted to keep pushing the musical ideas I had about jazz, music from Africa and the Caribbean.

I came up not understanding that a lot of people didn't start to hear music until they went to college or were turned on by an older brother or sister.

The blues is played everywhere. There's no place I've been where they don't have blues or aren't interested in blues.

When you have a lot of people telling you what you are and perceiving you in a certain way, it's difficult to find your own identity.