Just hold a second, let me check with Nina on this; she keeps track of that stuff. (In the background I hear Nina: "We've held on to the North American rights because we want to try and get our own distribution deal over here." ) Did you hear that? Yeah, well you know they only pressed 500 hundred copies of the last one (Crow Jane Alley) for North America and we don't want that again. So we're looking for a distributor over here for the disc.

This business hasn't changed much. Too many guys didn't get paid for the music they did or they got shafted out of their rights. Deaf guys who can't hear a note but will know a hit when they see it, and blind guys who can't see an inch in front of their faces, but know exactly how much money is in the roll in their pocket so they can reach in and peel off a hundred to some poor sap so he can go out and entertain some girl. At the end of the day not only is his heart broken cause the girl only wanted him because he was famous - he ain't got a cent to his name because that hundred bucks was his rights.

Now that's not my situation or anything, but I have to wonder about the music business. It's just like everybody wants to be a star, but doesn't really care what they put out as long as it makes money. Nobody wants to be the poet anymore, because there ain't any money in it.

Talking about changes - you've been doing this since the early '70s. Did you see yourself back then still doing this? And have you changed your approach at all to the music?

I still love the music and I still like to tour. There's nothing that beats that connection you make with an audience when the music is right and they're digging it, you know? I mean, I really am pretty lucky, you know? I'm still doing what I love to do and it still makes me happy, and I guess there aren't too many people in the world who can say that, are there?

I'm really still doing what I've always been doing, keep trying to apply the things that I've learned and find different ways to create the sound that I'm after. It's still going to be my sound, because that's who I am, but there's always a new angle to take on something or a fresh approach. The main thing is though that I love the music.

Obviously the new album and the upcoming tour are a priority right now, but have you given any though about further down the road?

All the stuff that's been going down in with New Orleans makes me want to put together a Victory Mixture ll type album - as a tribute to the music and the people. Get Dr. John, Alan Toussaint, Eddie Bo, and any of the others available and make another recording of that great music - maybe even do another tour.