Buddy Guy is a master bluesman.

Imagine being an inspiration to legends such as Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Page, Eric Clapton and I'm sure countless others. He has been called the bridge between the blues and rock and roll, so much so that Jimi Hendrix said that Heaven was lying at Buddy Guy's feet listening to him play guitar.

But Buddy Guy is also a flamboyant entertainer. I remember a quote by Jeff Beck saying that he once saw Guy throw the guitar up in the air and catch it in the same chord, and he was playing the guitar behind his back and picking it with his teeth almost 10 years before Hendrix adopted the moves. When Hendrix got really big Buddy Guy was accused of imitating him, but in reality Hendrix used to cancel his own engagements to go see Buddy Guy!

Guy was born in Leftsworth, Louisiana and is still performing at the age of 73 (See the video below from 2009). But what I love about Guy is his showmanship, his sincere smile and his interaction with the audience. I haven't ever seen a blues singer smile so much. He loves it when you sing along with him, and will often invite you on stage to help out with a tune. He can, and does, hold one note on the guitar for, oh… I counted at least 20 seconds, and that one note is a knockout punch just waiting for your ears to arrive.

Chicago Blues, that's Buddy Guy. He learned to play guitar on a two string diddley bow that he made from scratch. For 10 years one of his labels, Chess, refused to record him because they didn't understand his style and basically used Guy as a session man for recordings on albums for Koko Taylor, Muddy Waters, and Howlin Wolf. His career slumped in the late 1960's while the people he inspired rose to success, but it was revived when Clapton asked him to be in the 24 Nights blues lineup at London's Royal Albert Hall, in the late 80's. Now, Guy is a 5 time Grammy Award winner and has received 23 W.C Handy Awards ( more than any other artist) . He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, and his acceptance speech was simple, sweet and short “If you don't think you have the blues, just keep living". That’s blues, (and life) Buddy Guy style, and the reason why he is still such an inspiration in the world of music.