“This guy named Wally Wilson, who’s now a record executive, was my songwriting mentor. We were in a band together that nobody ever heard of, The King Snakes, and one day he said to me, ‘Kenny, I’ve got a friend who knows Joan Baez. You and I are going to get on a plane, we’re going to go meet her, and by God, we’re going to talk her into letting us record her record.’ And, of course, I said, ‘What?!’ [laughs] The whole thing sounded crazy.

“So we flew to San Francisco, went to Joan Baez’s house, and he talked her into letting us make records with her. He’s just that kind of a guy.

“It was fucking unbelievable! Joan had the best stories of anybody I’ve heard. I did two records with her, and at one point I even got to play on stage with her. It was the Newport Folk Festival, and it just so happened to be a tribute show to her. Her usual guitar player couldn’t make it, so I did the gig. Talk about incredible. She’s an icon, somebody who’s really made an important mark on society.”