"I got the nickname when I was working with Lucky Peterson, a blues artist that I started touring with in my twenties, when I went around the Chitlin’ Circuit with a lot of blues artists. I’ve played piano since I was 14, and started playing with bands on Bourbon Street when I was 18. I’m 49 now.

I know 18,000 songs. I was playing at Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop in ’98 when an agent came in and asked me if I wanted to go to Norway. From there, I went to Holland and played the largest dueling ...