BUDDY GUY

There are many ways to describe Buddy Guy – a more than 50 year blues veteran, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, a touchstone for Hendrix, Clapton and his fellow West Coast Blues and Roots performer Jeff Beck, a five-time Grammy Award winner, a 23-time WC Handy Blues Award winner, a recipient of the Presidential National Medal of Arts – but what puts him above many of the artists who like him started their careers in the 1950s is his longevity. He is more popular now than ever, due to last year appearing last year on the cover of Rolling Stone for their 100 Greatest Guitar Songs list and releasing Skin Deep, his latest album of all-original material, featuring guests Eric Clapton, Robert Rudolph, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. Guy says the album is the first time he’s “had more control” over his music, allowing him to abandon the usual formula of a handful of new songs, then some old songs and covers and truly speak his mind. At age 73, that’s a freedom he deserves.