Singing the Blues...

Bonnie Riatt said the blues are built with "Juice and Pain". Eric Clapton said that he felt like a 'blueswannabe' and woke up one day and knew that he had made it to becoming a sage 'bluesman'.

At what point does one have to go to the crossroads to sell your soul to understand what the blues is about.

I've been there - to that crossroads. And I came back a lot sadder and a little wiser. No playing the 'anti-heroines' of Tennessee Wilson is not studied, just inately understood.

My son walks around singing "Redemption Song" to his little baby girl. You know, that's not altogether inappropriate for her to hear.

I think of Billy Stayhorn writing "Blood Count' while laying in a hospital bed and watching the IV line come down with someone else's blood that was healthier than his - I've been there recently and I counted that blood as well a felt it start to heal my own wounds.