“My definition of Blues is that it's a musical form which is very disciplined and structured coupled with a state of mind, and you can have either of those things but it's the two together that make it what it is. And you need to be a student for one, and a human being for the other, but those things alone don't do it.”

“the thing about pessimism is that in most cases it's nothing more than a front behind which a body can hide its most sweetful yet painful hopes. please forgive mine.”

“I found my God in music and the arts, with writers like Hermann Hesse, and musicians like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and Little Walter. In some way, in some form, my God was always there, but now I have learned to talk to him.”

“For me there is something primitively soothing about this music, and it went straight to my nervous system, making me feel ten feet tall.”

“If you hand me a guitar, I'll play the blues. That's the place I automatically go.”

“Would you know my nameIf I saw you in heavenWill it be the sameIf I saw you in heavenI must be strong, and carry onCause I know I don't belongHere in heavenWould you hold my handIf I saw you in heavenWould you help me standIf I saw you in heavenI'll find my way, through night and dayCause I know I just can't stayHere in heaven”

“I am and always will be a blues guitarist”