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White folks hear the blues come out, but they don't know how it got there.

The blues are important primarily because they contain the cultural expression and the cultural response to blacks in America and to the situation that they find themselves in. And contained in the blues is a philosophical system at work. And as part of the oral tradition, this is a way of passing along information.

It's an often-asked question, 'Why did all these spotty white English boys suddenly start playing blues in the '60s?' It was recognized as this kind of vibrant music and when I first started playing in a blues band I just wanted to bring it to a wider public who hadn't really heard it.

I think it was that we were really seasoned musicians. We had serious roots that spanned different cultures, obviously the blues.

The Blues scene now is international. In the '50s it was purely something that you would hear in black clubs, played by black musicians, especially in America. But from the '60s onwards it changed.

I was into playing American music, especially the blues.

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 the slaves left Africa, they left us this music. They left us blues.

The blues are like the fugue in 18th century. It's probably the music that belongs most to our time.

I love blues. My grandfather did blues.