“I remember my mother singing ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ to me in my crib, along with ‘One Little Indian Boy.’ Then I got into her records—Janis Joplin, Neil Diamond and stuff. But she eventually bought a Howlin’ Wolf record and me and my brother made fun of it because of the cover. But when I finally heard it, I listened to it every night through all of high school. The Janis Joplin stuff had a huge impact on me, too. Watching her perform on old VHS tapes definitely touched and sh...