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I like the blues a lot. I grew up on it.

You don't have to live the blues to play the blues.

Yes, there's a lot of the blues in my playing.

There's no way in the world I can feel the same blues the way I used to. When I play in Chicago, I'm playing up-to-date, not the blues I was born with. People should hear the pure blues - the blues we used to have when we had no money.

I think that as you get older, you mellow out a lot more. Having been through the ups and downs in life, I feel more qualified to play the blues.

So yeah, I am definitely a blues man at heart.

Blues is easy to play, but hard to feel.

I don't try to just be a blues singer - I try to be an entertainer. That has kept me going.

If you can't play the blues... you might as well hang it up.