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right, I don’t think that competition as such is the natural place for a musician and not
necessarily healthy for every musician either. It’s funny because talking – I’ve had the
opportunity to meet some of my heroes in the blues and it was clear that the blues scene and
the way that a lot of musicians related to each other in the heyday of Chicago blues, was quite
competitive and there was a lot of cutting competitions and all that sort of business. But I do
think for myself, that music is not a competition. It works so much better when it is a
cooperative endeavour and it’s a pact. Hopefully, when you are on stage with a group of

musicians you all do your best to share the music and feed off each other and respond to one
another and this is really where I think the music flourishes. And it also flourishes when you’re
playing to an audience because I think blues and roots music is the sort of music that really
tends to gather and engender a community. And right now as I’m speaking to you in the UK
and I’m in Australia, this is a case in point. The music, I realise now, that blues music has really
shaped pretty much my whole adult
life and through it, I’ve met some of
my heroes and I’ve played with
musicians in 20 different countries
and I’ve toured and I’ve made a
whole heap of friends. So it’s really
quite amazing. I think that sort of
space is more important than
competitions and awards, in many
ways.

BiTS: Right. You play slide guitar,
you do fingerpicking and all kinds of
other styles. Where do you pick
them up from? Have you ever been
taught by somebody or is it just from

watching other people?

FB: [Laughs] Well, I’ve never had
any formal guitar lessons and in fact,
when I first started playing, I started
with a stack of Mississippi John Hurt and Tommy Johnson and Big Bill Broonzy albums and a
borrowed guitar and I would go to see bands and I’d look at the guitarist and think that’s an
interesting shape. I wonder what that chord does and go home and try and remember it and
work it out. I think every musician – I’ve never had formal lessons but I’ve certainly learnt an
incredible amount from watching people who I would now consider to be mentors. I’ve been
lucky enough to actually hang out with Hubert Sumlin, Howlin’ Wolf’s long-time guitarist. I
would have dreamt of seeing him, let alone meeting him and hanging out with him and I spent
a weekend in his home one time with him which was just incredibly precious. Just jamming
and hearing his stories and hanging out. I think this is traditionally a really strong idea in the
blues, that thread, that each generational thread where young players sit at the knee of an
elder and older player who they learn from and so the torch is passed to the next generation
and each generation tweaks it and the challenge is to find your own voice within the tradition.
Certainly as a songwriter, you’re trying to write within a tradition and you want your songs to
sound and be in the tradition but the tricky thing is to try and find your own voice and that’s
all part of the journey, I think.

BiTS: You’ve made half a dozen, maybe more, perhaps you can tell me how many it is, albums
over the years. The last one was “Voodoo In The Shadows”. I’ve got a cat called Voodoo,