The hour before my 15-minute interview with Buddy Guy, I was getting pretty sweaty and nervous. This happens a lot, as if I’m perpetually waiting to play a hypothetical sold-out show I can’t back out of, to an audience I can hear getting antsy from the wings — except it’s me about to take a phone call at my kitchen counter.
So, in the time remaining before the 9 a.m. interview, I strummed an acoustic guitar, and my nerves about talking with a blues legend quietly subsided. I could breathe normally. Distraction has been music’s greatest gift to me. But for Buddy Guy, whose career has spanned over seven decades, music’s greatest gift to him was that he was picked.
“I know millions of guitar players, man, that don’t have a name for themselves. And they look at me and say, What do I need to do, Buddy, to get known?” he said. “If you look at sports, man — football, basketball, boxing, and everything — some of the greatest in the world will never get to the top. And then, all of a sudden, you pick somebody, they could now. That’s the same way about music. I don’t care how good you are. The right person gotta see you at the right time. You gotta hit that right lick at the right time.”
As an exponent of the Chicago blues, Buddy learned a lot from the greats who are no longer here — T-Bone Walker, B.B. King, Guitar Slim — and played with a great many of them, too. He’s currently 88, with a birthday around the corner. As one of the last living legends of the blues, Buddy’s influenced generations of guitarists himself, including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, and John Mayer.
“I remember when I was in my late-20s, 30s, I had enough energy for two weeks,” he said. “They used to look at me and tell me, Son, wait until you get to my age. B.B. was in a wheelchair wherever he went. I’m a little slow, so I feel like I might be in the way. But people still love you because there’s only a few of us left.”
Buddy often jokes that it’s just him, Willie Nelson, and Bobby Rush remaining.
“I’m not giving what I used to give, but I’m giving you the best I got,” Guy said. “I used to flip the guitar and everything else. Man, but that changes at this age, regardless if you’re a guitar player or a farmer. You get to a certain age, that’s Mother Nature. You got to live with that.”
His Damn Right Farewell tour has been a celebration of his extraordinary career, and this encore extends until later this year.
“I’m gonna go as long as I can,” he said. “The farewell means a slowdown. That don’t mean I ain’t going to play my guitar.”
When I asked him what it is that’s inspired him to keep playing all these years, Buddy reflects that it’s as simple as an oft-said idiom.
“Wherever you play, look in the face of somebody that’s watching you,” he said. “You ain’t gonna never please everybody; don’t worry about that. But if you got a frown on the face, try to make it be a smile. If you play something, and they can smile, you can feel good inside.”
Buddy Guy has a shot of cognac every show, because even blues legends seven decades in still have nerves. He offered to have a shot with me backstage when he comes through town. I’m going to pretend he doesn’t tell that to every nervous interviewer who gets a 15-minute phone call with him.
“You don’t have to be the best in town. Just try to be the best ‘til the best come around.”
Brandon Berry writes about the Dayton and Southwest Ohio music and art scene. Have a story idea for him? Email branberry100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
What: Buddy Guy: Damn Right Encore, with special guest Eric Gales
When: 7 p.m. June 14
Where: 6800 Executive Blvd., Huber Heights
Tickets: rosemusiccenter.com
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