Whats the origin of the nickname “Smokey”?
My favorite uncle, who was also my godfather, gave it to me when I was 3 years old. I used to love cowboys; that was my thing–especially the ones who sang. And he would always take me to see cowboy movies. His cowboy name for me was “Smokey Joe.” Whenever anybody asked me what my name was, I’d tell them “Smokey Joe.” The Joe dropped off when I became 12. When did you first know you wanted to be a singer/songwriter? I have felt like that since I was 4 years old. At times it seemed like it was going to be my absolutely impossible dream given where I grew up in Detroit. But it was always my dream. Nobody in my family was a professional musically. My mother sang in church and played the piano; my dad sang in the shower [laughs]. However, I listened to everything that was being played at home: from gospel to gut-bucket blues to jazz and classical. My two older sisters listened to bebop: Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. I formed my first group when I was 11. We went from bei
