When most of his friends were quoting Grateful Dead lyrics, he said he was listening to Albert King. Even noting that he quoted King in his high school year book: "The blues don't change."

"My dream of playing the blues for a living came true � sort of � but the blues is alive in all of my songs and in my playing," he said. "The way I bend the strings." He played his flying V, King's guitar of choice, to demonstrate his point, going into "Call It Stormy Monday." He mimicked different blues players playing that song before finally playing it in King's style adding, "Albert's style is the reason guitar faces were invented."