Guy Davis performs from 5:40 to 6:50 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5 at the 20th annual Sugar Maple Music Festival at Lake Farm County Park in Madison. He’ll also perform with Piedmont Bluz on the intimate Roots & Reasons Stage at 3:20 p.m.

Sugar Maple Music Festival performer Guy Davis’ parents are acting icons Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, and Guy dabbled in screen roles, including starring in 1984’s hip-hop flick “Beat Street.”

But his heart is planted in performing traditional blues music as firmly as paint on the wall.

For decades, Davis, 71, has entertained audiences as a solo artist, earning two Grammy nominations in the old-time blues category. (His most recent album, “Be Ready When I Call You,” lost in 2022, and another recording was topped for a Grammy by the Rolling Stones in 2018.)

Sugar Maple: How did you become a bluesman?

Davis: “I went to a summer camp run by Pete Seeger’s brother (Mike Seeger) and I learned a lot of old songs, including blues, back then. I was about 8 (in 1961). The music captured me at a young age.”

SM: Can you explain what it is about traditional blues that stirs your soul?

Davis: “Music is my religion. Blues is just a door of the church that I go into. It unlocks other doors.”

SM: You want to keep legendary blues music vital?

Davis: “An artist’s job is to say the same thing in a different way. By keeping the old music alive, it inspires new music. But you always pay homage to predecessors not just by doing their music, but music that is inspired by them.”

SM: Your current tour schedule is packed with so many American dates, and you’ll go across Canada then to the United Kingdom. You must love the road?

Davis: “The only thing I enjoy is walking out onstage and playing music. Running through airports, going through security, missing flights, and having to get travel in places where I don’t know the language is hell.”

SM: You’ve performed in 48 of 50 states. What’s left?

Davis: “Hawaii and Wyoming.”

SM: You played spontaneously in Red Square in Moscow, but you were chased out for singing there. What happened?

Davis: “It’s true. My manager suggested I bust out into ‘Walkin’ Blues’ in Red Square, so he could put it on a video. He already had video of me singing it in front of an iceberg in Greenland and a few other unusual places. It didn’t last long in Red Square. Police asked me to stop. But we still got a nugget of footage.”

SM: How tough is it to play as you get older?

Davis: “Playing’s easy. I enjoy it more than ever. The travelling – that’s hard.”

SM: At the Sugar Maple Festival, you’ll play on the main stage, then join Piedmont Bluz on a side stage to perform the music of Mississippi John Hurt. What is it about Mississippi John that you like?

Davis: “His music sound was masterful. He was such an icon of a certain sound that deals with finger picking. That, combined with his voice, made it so no one sounded like him. There were other finger pickers like Elizabeth Cotton, but no one sounded like Mississippi John Hurt.”

SM: What will you play during your solo set?

Davis: “Expect excitement. It’s an eclectic set of music. There might even be a song I haven’t written yet. I keep writing and writing still. If I play an old song, I find new ways to play it.”