It Is Still A Surprise When People

I'm Sure I Would Have Been Considered A More Significant Artist If I Was A Singer-songwriter. It's Just Not The Way I Roll. I Love Being A Curator And A Musicologist. People Write Me Letters And Thank Me For Turning Them On To Fred Mcdowell And Sippie Wallace, And That's Partly My Job This Time Around.

Elvis Might Have Compromised His Musical Style A Bit Towards The End, But That Doesn't Mean That Artists From The Rock N' Roll/folk-roots Culture - Of Which He Was Not Really A Part - Shouldn't Get Better As They Get Older, Like The Great Jazz Or Blues Artists.

The Fact Is That This Conversation Is Going On At Every Level At Every Age, We're All Going, "god, What A Jerk I've Been," "how Could I Have Married That Guy?" Or "how Could I Have Done This Or That?" With Time, This Is The Gift Of Being Older, That You Get To Look Back And Say, "it Wasn't All About Them."

The Great Thing About The Arts, And Especially Popular Music, Is That It Really Does Cut Across Genres And Races And Classes.

I Don't Think There's Ever Been Any Music Quite Like What We Came Up With.