George Thorogood has a theory. “In any field, especially the arts, there are always two things – ‘genius’ and ‘very clever.’ There’s no in-between. You’re either a genius or very clever. I’m going to throw out two names at you. John Lennon – genius, right? And Mick Jagger? Very clever. See what I’m saying? I’ll give you another example. Einstein – genius. And George Thorogood – very clever.’’

Yet what about the people who think Thorogood is a genius in his own way? “OK, I’m a genius at being very clever,’’ he says with a hearty laugh.

Thorogood loves quips almost as much as he loves the blues, so here’s another: “Let’s put it this way. Dylan has a Rolls Royce dealership. I have a used Chevy dealership. But I’m in the business. You got it? That’s all I wanted from this thing. A gig, man. And I got a gig.’’

Thorogood and his band the Destroyers have held that gig for more than 30 years. And he’s not about to let go now. “It’s like a championship fight,’’ he says. “You’ve got two guys in the ring – one guy who’s the contender and wants to get the title and you’ve got the guy who’s got the title and it took him 15 years to get the title and he’s held onto it for five years. Who’s going to be the tougher opponent? It’s going to be the guy with the title who worked hard to get it. You’re going to have to kill him to get it away from him. And that’s all that I’m doing up there. I’m trying to hold my gig. I just want to make sure that at the end of the night the promoter comes up and says, ‘I want to hire you again.’