Five-time Grammy winner Robert Cray sings the blues at Capitol Theatre

The life-changing moment for many recording artists was witnessing The Beatles play "The Ed Sullivan Show" in February of 1964. Robert Cray was 10 years old at the time when the Fabs instantly catapulted to super stardom.

Cray, 71, picked up a guitar shortly thereafter, but the seismic sonic moment for the soft-spoken guitar hero occurred in 1971.

Blues legend Albert Collins was hired to play Cray's high school graduation party in Tacoma. "Having Albert Collins play our party was fantastic," Cray said while calling from Los Angeles. "I had seen Albert Collins perform at an outdoor rock festival, and he just blew everyone away. His performance was so inspiring. I was ecstatic when our class voted for Albert to play our party."

Collins had a moment at the party with Cray, which had a massive impact on the fledgling musician. "Albert walked through the crowd, and I told him about what I wanted to do, and he said, 'Young man, you play the guitar?' I said, 'Yes.' He then said, 'Keep it up.’"

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The venerable blues vocalist-guitarist formed the Robert Cray Band shortly after high school and collaborated with his pal, singer-songwriter Curtis Salgado in the Cray-Hawks. Cray was cast in the 1978 film "National Lampoon's Animal House" as the uncredited bassist in the house party band, Otis Day and the Knights.

"Who's Been Talkin,’" Cray's debut album, was released in 1980. However, it was 1986's "Strong Persuader," which scored critical acclaim and commercial success for Cray months after it was released. Not only did Cray win a Grammy Award for Traditional Blues Album, he became a known commodity since "Strong Persuader" sold more than two million copies. That was when many doors opened.

Cray was invited by Keith Richards to join his backing band for Chuck Berry in the 1987 film "Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock 'N' Roll." Months later, Tina Turner invited Cray to be part of her "Break Every Rule" television special.

"It was an amazing time," Cray said. "It was surreal. I never expected to have that kind of success. It was gratifying. It enabled me to be able to have this stable career.”

It's been beyond stable for Cray, who became a known entity thanks to the catchy "Smoking Gun," the initial single from "Strong Persuader."

Cray has 19 albums with number 20 on the way. "A new album is in the works," Cray said. "We're not going to preview it when we come to Iowa. We'll get to that record soon enough."

With such a deep canon, it's not easy for Cray to put a set list together. "Our bassist Richard Cousins and I work on the set list on a nightly basis. We go over it like a menu and fine tune it."

It's all about the live experience for Cray, who will perform Saturday, Aug. 9 at the Capitol Theatre in Davenport.

"I love playing live more than anything since anything can happen," Cray said. "At least that's the way I look at it. The challenge is to nail it without playing the same solo or going with a different tempo. There is no point in replicating what you did in the studio. I learned that a long time ago."

Cray doesn't really care about the shiny objects that have come along with his success, such as those five Grammy Awards. "Those awards are in the closet," Cray said. "I'm just not one who places awards in a prominent place in my house. I don't do this for awards. It's about the music."

Cray has been compelled to hone his craft daily since he was a teenager in Tacoma. "That's what I need to do," Cray said. "I love picking up the guitar. I'm inspired. It's how I feel when I listen to some of the greatest to ever play the guitar. Seeing guys like Muddy Waters and Freddy King and of course, Albert (Collins) left me with little choice. What they did was magical. I love the blues."

Part of Cray's mission is to keep the blues alive. The Georgia native is confident the blues is healthy and will remain part of the sonic lexicon for many years.

"The blues will be fine," Cray said. "I look at it this way. It's all a generational thing. Muddy Waters learned from who he learned from. Albert Collins learned from who he learned from, and I learned who I learned from. It's the same for kids today. They're doing blues their own way. Let them do it and let's just enjoy the music."