Blues Musician Lazy Lester on Life’s Lessons

t 81 years old, the legendary bluesman Lazy Lester is unbelievably at ease. Known for traveling the world like a wayward son and taking up residences across country, here and there-including a storied stop in Pontiac, Michigan, where he pursued his hobby of fishing-Lester seems most at home playing his guitar and harmonica and singing stories of sugarcoated love.

Before his performance at the Anti-Freeze Blues Festival on Friday Jan. 16, we called Lester up at his digs in Paradise, California to ask: How does he make life look so easy?

Hurrying gets you nowhere

I'm never in a hurry; that's where that name (Lazy Lester) came from. Because when you are in a hurry, you never get anything done. That's my stage name-and it's been that all my life.

Imitation is a form of flattery

Freddy Fender covered one of my tunes before anyone else did. I don't remember, it's been so damn long ago. It's all natural. You can say it's a special feeling. There's a lot of people out there singing my music. They all sing my tunes.

If blues music changes, you're not playing it right

Blues is blues. They have some stuff that they call blues and, well, you know they have misconceptions. They get different thangs mixed up with different thangs. (Laughs) I don't want to try and explain all that. But I mean, somebody say these guys is really playing blues, and they don't know blues if it bit them in the butt. Mostly the meaning of blues is bad man feeling good or a good man feeling bad.

People are what they are

I'm always the same guy. From the day one till the last minute, I never change. I'm always Lazy Lester.