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I grew up in a small town in Sudan. There weren't many cars, so we did things in the countryside near where we lived.

We just weren't a family that gathered around the TV. I grew up in a town where everyone was outside all the time. I was mostly in Connecticut; I spent a lot of time in Tennessee in the summers, but I was in Stamford, Connecticut.

There wasn't a lot of live music that you could hear where I came from, which was a small town in southeast Missouri.

I have a long history with Kansas City.

It was my first time in Kansas City. In about two or three days I had a gig at a place called The Monroe Inn.

I credit Kansas City with my work ethic and learning from the amazing artists that are in that town.

I've been back to the Kansas City area a lot in the past. My sisters went to college in the area. My brother went to college in the area. I've got friends there, so there's some ties to the area.

Like every other place, I guess, Kansas City was quite a different city when I was a youngster there. They had quite a few clubs, and we had what we used to call jam sessions every night.

Well, I got pretty good and went on the road with a group. We starved. At that time I didn't realize that you'd work one gig in Kansas City, the next in Florida and the next gig will be in Louisville. You know, a thousand miles a night. That was really rough, man.